Code Geass: Zero vs Infinite
by Ronnin-themanwithnoprinciples
Summary: What become of everyone after Lelouch was "killed"? Surly there were people that would want his reign to continue. So join my story a year in the future where Lelouch now bares the Geass code, and is immortal. C.C. helping him along the way.
1. New Mask, New Name, Same Problem

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any content of Code Geass, all characters, and places belong to the Anime and Manga creators. Only the storyline and select few added features are mine.**

_Code Geass: Zero vs. Infinity_

_Chapter 1: New Mask, New Name, Same Problem_

"A year has past since Zero killed 99th Emperor of Britannia: Lelouch Vi Britannia," Milly Ashford reports on the news channel. "The new Emperor, Cornelia Li Britannia, has taken over her brother's place and returned the world to it's original state before the Area's were made by 98th Emperor, Charles Zi Britannia/" The T.V. is turned off by the man watching.

"It still burns me up to hear that man's name." The man says.

"And it probably will burn forever more as well." A women next to him says and picks up the remote, turning the T.V. back on.

"/How Zero still makes regular appearances, no matter how we ask him, he refuses to take off his mask even though he has nothing to hide."

"That man has everything to hide Milly Ashford."

"As Japan's savior and symbol, Zero has taken on the job of Governor of Japan, and everyone seems to be in peace. Of course some Britannia's wish for the return of the world under Emperor Charles's reign." The man watch grimaces again. "But we are of course trying our best to make them understand the situation the world is in."

"One year huh, the world is peaceful for once, and terrorism is low." The man starts getting up and walking away. "Some have forgotten all about Lelouch's terrible reign; others are still terrified by its memory."

"Are you thinking about what I think?" the woman asks.

"Yes, I am, I still haven't found a way to end the Horrible cycle we are cursed with."

"_We_? What could you mean by that, I don't have it, it's just you now remember."

"I suppose your right about that."

"So then, the question is how will you make your appearance, and for what means?" Asks the woman.

"Zero's natural enemy of course C.C. who else? as for the means, that part goes completely without saying."

"I suppose it does, Lelouch."

"Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero! Zero!" The people cry their shouts of admiration as Zero walks off, toward his private jet.

Just as Zero reaches the door of his jet he hears a particularly loud and loathing cry. "_ZEROOOO!_" Everyone stops at the sound of this, wondering who would use such a tone against their savior. Everyone looks frantically in every direction, trying to find the source of this voice when a huge machine then floats up above the crowd.

"Is that what I think it is?" Someone in the crowd asks.

"But it was destroyed wasn't it?" another person ponders

"Is that, Gawain?" Zero whispers to himself looking up in shock and disbelief. "Go now, get to Professor Lloyd to being_ that_ here as fast as possible."

"Yes, Lord Zero." A man waiting in the plane says and rushes to the controls and leaves without Zero.

"Zero, I will make regret the day you killed Emperor Lelouch." The man in the Gawain model states.

"How do you Pilot the Gawain?" Zero asks.

"I have recreated the Gawain, then improved it. It is no longer what you call 'Knightmare'. It has evolved; it is KnightCrawler!"

_KnightCrawler, "_Who are you?" Zero asks.

"I am Zero's opposite by nature, if Zero is nothing, than I am everything; call me, Infinite!" The people listening to this rouse with curiosity at this proclamation, this man called Infinite. "Now Zero, die." Infinite says, shooting bullets at Zero, but just as this happens, Zero jumps and dashes, avoiding each and every bullet.

"You stay away from Zero." A voice says and Infinite stops shooting to look to where it cam from, to see a red Knightmare with energy wing flying at full speed strait at him.

"Kallen." Zero says in half astonishment as others refer to her as Zero's knight or Ace of the Black Knights.

Before Kallen's Knightmare can hit Infinite's Gawain, Energy wing come from its back and he flies up and out of the way. However these were not like normal energy wings, for there were a second, slightly smaller pair connected to the regular pair. Infinite turns the Gawain and shoots bullets at the Guren Knightmare, but all miss as it rounds back around tries to grab the Gawain to emit its energy pulsar but the Gawain uses its ultimate defense shield to block and fly away.

"It would seem your Knightmare can stand its ground against my Gawain, but can you handle this?" Infinite asks and then the chest opens up and he fires the Hydron Cannon from it. Kallen, already expecting this, flies up and easily dodges the beam.

"Please, it's not very hard to dodge with energy wings." Kallen says but then hears a snicker from Infinite. "What," Kallen's back sensors activate and she turns around seeing the Hydron Cannon coming at her and realizes that it actually bent mid-fire and turned back at her. "But- but how?" She asks herself but quickly react by putting up her upgraded shield, the Ultimate defense that is capable of blocking it, from her Guren's arm.

"Don't think so." Infinite says and fires two Hydron Cannons from the Gawain's shoulders, but off course, though have them bend and corner her from three sides. "Can't block three of them at once can you?" Infinite taunts.

_Oh no,_ Kallen thinks and stares as she is about to have her Guren get destroyed. but just then something appears on her monitor showing a fast approaching Knightmare and when she looks, she is shocked to see the dead Knight of Zero, Suzaku's, Lancelot and snatch her from the side and pull her just out of harms way of the Hydron Cannons and they hit each other, canceling out.

"Are you/" Kallen begins to ask the Lancelot Pilot.

"It is I, Zero." He replies before she finishes her question.

The appearance of Lancelot, the Knightmare of the traitor Suzaku, seems to cause more of a ruckus with the spectators than Gawain did, because it saved the Guren rather than watch it be destroyed. Inside the Lancelot's Pilot seat, Zero was taking off his mask since no one could see him; and the face under Suzaku's.

A sound only radio chat opened up in the Lancelot. "People will get the wrong idea with you piloting this thing Lord Zero." It was Lloyd's voice.

"I am aware, but it will not matter Professor Lloyd." Suzaku answered ending the chat quickly.

"Interesting, well I know when I am due to leave, so let me say one more thing to all." Infinite says as his KnightCrawler drops and lands on the ground. The hatch then opens up, making everyone lean in, wanting to see this mystery man's face. But instead what they saw astonished them, setting another riot among spectator's as the man is dressed in an exact invert costume of Zero. "To all Britannia's who want to return the world to the way it was in Emperor Lelouch's reign." He says as cameramen had come to show the whole incident live. "I call on you to come and fallow me, and I will make that happen. I swear it on his grave, I will prevail!"

**IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, I don't know how everyone is missing this, but no one who reads this story seems to understand why Lelouch has started a rebellion, even though I have stated it right here in the first chapter. It is practically the first thing I have Lelouch say, and I quote: "I still haven't found a way to end the horrible cycle we are cursed with." In this sentence, Lelouch is saying he has been trying to, and has failed to, destroy the Geass Code - the cycle they are cursed with - but has yet to find a means. The entire rebellion is for the point of killing him and destroying the Geass Code. I just don't see how you are all missing this fact.**


	2. The Reverse Rebellion

_Chapter 2: The Reverse Rebellion_

"It's been a week since your little Declaration Lelouch, and you only have 1,000 people joining your cause." C.C. says disappointed.

"I know C.C. But that is partly due to the fact that since then, they haven't let many Brittanians enter Japan, out of fear they would join my Leagues." Lelouch replies.

"Although it's partly because, however short your rule was, even many Brittanians would have rather a different emperor anyways."

"I will only require a small task force anyways, with the KnightCrawlers we assembled over the last year, it shouldn't be much trouble to accomplish my goal."

"I'm not sure how a new rebellion will destroy Geass though. you are immortal after all."

"That man died, even with the code, did he not? I will simply have to find different ways of doing so."

"True, the Thought Elevator was completely destroyed back then wasn't it? So going back and demanding death isn't an option." C.C. says and then Lelouch's cell phone rings.

"Hello?" Lelouch answers.

"Infinite correct?" The person on the other end asks.

"Yes, who am I speaking to right now?" Lelouch wonders who would have called this number expecting Infinite when he only told people _once_ they joined him. Not including those who believed him to be dead.

"Then you really are alive," The man says with a sense of relief and joy; also startling Lelouch. "It is I, Jeremiah, Lord Lelouch." This announcement and use of his name completely baffles him.

"Je-Jeremiah?" C.C. straitens up at hearing the name.

They were both aware that, although in willing League with Lelouch, the Royal family did not charge Jeremiah and kill him on the condition he removed the Geass Lelouch had used on many to fallow him and he acted as a normal citizen. But this call was still surprising.

"Yes Lord Lelouch, and I wish to join you, to serve you once again." Jeremiah pronounces with pride.

Lelouch takes a moment to reply out of shier shock. "I would very much appreciate your assistance in my quest Jeremiah, you must come to me at once. I actually have a KnightCrawler all prepared you could use as well." Lelouch says.

"This is great news to me Lord Lelouch, I shall meet you at once, just name where." Jeremiah answers, and listens carefully to Lelouch's fallowing instructions.

That night Jeremiah made for an old cellar near the government building of Japan and entered, although no one was inside this cellar, not even Lelouch, but Jeremiah was told he would not be there, because he had assumed Jeremiah would be put under surveillance after this feed, being Lelouch's main supporter one year ago. However he also knew that they would not be able to enter the Cellar until they confirmed his meeting with someone. And in fact they were; Anya, A knight of Rounds, was fallowing him since Infinite appeared, and, using a heat vision machine, she was ready with her Knightmare to storm the place if another person walked in, just outside.

Inside Jeremiah had his cue, he found a switch on the ground and clicked it, activating Gefjun Disturbers positioned on the ends of the cellar Lelouch placed earlier that day. Once they were activated, Anya's Knightmare shut off, and she couldn't use anything and all other technology within 30 yards was shut down. How Jeremiah was part robotic, Lelouch had positioned the Gefjun Disturbers so he would not be affected by them as long as he stayed on the route planed out for him, and he charged, for in only 30 seconds was given before the power returned. And he must be off Anya's radar range by then or the plan went off in smoke.

Inside the cellar a secret tunnel just big enough for an average adult, like him, to stand up in, and he ran through the tunnel with extreme speed and urgency. With extra speed given by his robotic legs, he was more than 60 yards away by the time the Gefjun Disturbers de-activated, and far out of range of Anya's radar.

In less than half an hour, Jeremiah reaches the end of the underground tunnel and sees a metal plate above him. He already knew this wasn't a door, it was the floor of the building above him, He was told he would have to use his robotic blades embedded in his arms to carve through the floor, this would ensure no one else could get in through this path. He did so and jumped up into the room where in was C.C. and the masked Infinite.

"Jeremiah, I am glad to see you are well preserved after a year of being a simple citizen." Lelouch says, keeping his mask on in case someone else were to enter the room.

"Of course, Infinite, I am here to serve you, as I once did Lelouch in his time." Jeremiah replies, pretending as instructed know Lelouch's identity. "C.C. I am pleased to see you to have taken part in this affair."

"For what reason do I have not to?" She sarcastically replies.

"Well then Jeremiah, you have done great work fallowing my instructions to get here, and you will be promptly rewarded, with a position in the Strike Division Force, second strongest group of forces, not far behind the Infinite Arsenal."

"If I am the Strike Division Captain, who _is_ Captain of the Infinite Arsenal?"

"None other than I, who else is worthy?" C.C. asks.

"Very true C.C."

""Now then," Lelouch speaks again, louder, "Let me show you the KnightCrawler you shall use to revive Emperor Lelouch's name; In the Reverse Rebellion!" He shouts as lights in the hall behind Lelouch flicker on as a KnightCrawler is lifted up. This machine was a black version of his former Knightmare, Siegfried, as were all the KnightCrawlers held in the hall, yet the uniforms of those standing around were white, in an invert of Zero's outfit. they members of the Reverse Knights now shouting...

"In-fin-ite, In-fin-ite, In-fin-ite!"


	3. The Identity Crisis

_Chapter 3: The Identity Crisis_

Zero enters a room in which there is a couch, T.V., bed, and a coffee table with a meal set up on it, this room had a single attendant, who would make meals for zero, then leave for the next hour, as Suzaku had to remove his mask to eat. He sits down at the table and takes off Zero's mask and turns the T.V. on before beginning his meal.

"A single year, I thought all big threats were done with, now this man named Infinite comes with a plan he believes is in Lelouch's favor. But no one knows the truth behind that day; the day I killed him." Suzaku says to himself.

"Will this new adversary, Infinite, be successful in his quest to redeem Japan in the name of Lelouch, 99th Emperor of Britannia?" Milly Ashford says on the news channel. "How many forces will he be able to assemble with the new Britanninan restriction act? Many people posed this question, and it is a re-assuring question at that, only about every 1 in 10 Britannians are even being allowed into Japan since his announcement. And another question that is important is just how many KnightCrawlers has he assembled since he started his ambition? this number may be the difference between victory and defeat with their power." Just then someone knocks on the door. Suzaku glanced at this clock on the wall, obviously seeing the attendant wouldn't be back by now, and puts his mask back on for the moment.

"Come in," he says.

The person who enters is in a wheel chair, and he recognizes her.

Nunnally is the guest now in his room, and says, much to Suzaku's surprise, "Suzaku, please remove that mask for me." Suzaku is taken completely back at this, for he hadn't even told her about Lelouch's plan of death.

"Suzaku?" He asks, pretending to be baffled

"Don't play with me anymore!" Nunnally shouts at him obvious to him now that she has known for a long time.

He does so, sighing and asks, "How long have you known Nunnally?"

"I've always known, when I touched My brother's hand that day, I saw everything that happened with him Since you made that agreement." She says, and Suzaku can see she is now holding back tears. "Suzaku... What are the chances that Lelouch is alive?" She asks, and Suzaku, taken back again, realizes that she is being completely serious.

"Alive, Lelouch? No, he died in front of everyone, in your arms." He replies, partly sad to say this. "Why would you ask me that?"

"Because, when I said I saw everything of Lelouch since your agreement, I meant it. The women with green hair is C.C. right? I never saw her face." She asks

"Y-yes."

"She was immortal, with the Geass code, what gave my brother his Geass."

"Where are you going with this?"

"She gave Lelouch the code, and gave him immortality." She says, startling Suzaku. "If that is true, then he might be Infinite, the thought of my brother being alive has been the only thing keeping me going this past year."

"Lelouch... is Infinite?"

"There's a chance of it, yes."

"But if Lelouch is Infinite, what is he trying to accomplish? He wanted Japan free just as much as I did."

"Of that I'm unsure, but if he is, what are you going to do?" This question was the most troubling for Suzaku, despite everything, Lelouch was his best friend, the thought of fighting him again would be a lot to bear.

"I..." He began, "I can't turn a blind eye for him, especially in the case your wrong, and Lelouch isn't Infinite."

"I know that, what I mean is will you try to find a way to meet him and find out?"

"If I do that, and it is Lelouch, it could benefit him, but it could also hinder myself. However, on the chance it isn't, I would be put in an unfavorable situation."

"I see," Nunnally says sadly.

"But maybe there's a way to find out without meeting him directly." Nunnally straitens up at this. "Chances are, Lelouch is still using his old cell phone and number, because otherwise he would have to get a new one, which would involve using his personal information, which he wouldn't risk, so if I call him with my cell phone, we might be able to find out."

"OK," Nunnally agrees as Suzaku takes out his cell phone.

Suzaku starts dialing the number, and Nunnally's heart begins to race, and every second is an eternity at the thought of Lelouch being Infinite. When Suzaku finishes dialing the number he pauses, holding his thumb over the call button, and Nunnally could see the pressure in his eyes. Finally, after what seemed like a tortuous suspense for both of them, Suzaku pushes the call button on his cell, and holds it up to his ear. He hears the first ring.

Lelouch hears his cell phone ring, and takes it out of his pocket, about to answer, but then sees the caller ID flash across on the screen in bold letters he reads... **SUZAKU**

He tries to think of what to do... the second ring... If he answers, what would he do with Suzaku knowing he's alive... the third ring... If he doesn't he might risk valuable information... the fourth ring... He had to understand why Suzaku made this call... the fifth ring... but if he answered it, he could risk his identity being figured out... the sixth ring... he had to decide fast, his phone only rang ten times before going to voice mail... the seventh ring... What would have possible made Suzaku call this number now... the eighth ring... could he have been lead to believe he was really alive by Infinite appearing... the ninth ring... he had to make the decision, answer call, or end call... the tenth ring... He decided and pressed the button.

At Suzaku's side, he waited the ten rings then heard a sort of click made listened to what he heard, his face going pale in front of Nunnally's eyes, going pale herself. She watched Suzaku with anticipation. Had Lelouch answered and is now explaining something, or was he too shocked at what happened to put the phone down or speak. five seconds past and Suzaku hadn't said anything or even moved. But then the next moment he punched the table and gritted his teeth, startling Nunnally. He threw the phone at the wall and it broke.

"Lelouch..." Nunnally starts her question. "Was Lelouch on the other line?" She asked, he turned to her, both their faces were completely white but Suzaku's no longer carried an emotion.

"Lelouch..." He started. "is Infinite, he didn't answer the phone."

"Why didn't you answer the call Lelouch, who was it?" C.C. asks

"That was Suzaku calling me." Lelouch says, he was also pale.

"What, how does him not answering prove he's Infinite?" Nunnally asks

"I know how Lelouch thinks." Suzaku replies.

"Why on earth would he call your phone." C.C. asks Lelouch.

"I have no idea, I'm not even sure if I made the right call ending the call." Lelouch replies.

"What does that mean?" Nunnally begs.

"I knew that since Lelouch is alive, if he had nothing to hide, he would answer his phone, whether he knew what was going on or not." Suzaku replies.

"What if he thinks your alive and Infinite?" C.C. ponders.

"If that's the case, I probably made a bad decision." Lelouch says.

"But," Nunnally knows what's coming.

"But if he is Infinite, he wouldn't risk his identity being revealed because he answered the phone." Suzaku says.

"What if he _knows_ your alive?" C.C. continues

"Then I made the absolute worst decision." Lelouch says.

"Please no, Suzaku?" Nunnally wants to deny what he's saying.

"But what he wouldn't have been able to realize was that not answering _did _reveal his identity, I'm sorry Nunnally, Lelouch is Infinite." Suzaku replies with dead certainty.

"So this means the heat is on, huh Lelouch?" C.C. asks.

"Yeah, yeah it does C.C." Lelouch replies sadly.

"We know he's up to something, but whatever it is, let it comfort you knowing it should in no way harm you, I or any of the world in the end." Suzaku says, putting a hand on Nunnally's shoulder.

"I know, thank you, Suzaku." She replies and turns, exiting the room slowly, and Suzaku puts the mask of Zero back on. And the attendant enters the room at the same time, wondering what she could have been doing here, and why she looked so sad, but figured it better not to ask.

"Lord Zero, are you going to finish your meal?" She asks.

"Well if that is the case, I'm sure he won't hold back, if that gives you any comfort." C.C. says and leaves the room, and Lelouch puts the mask of Infinite back on. A member of the Reverse Knights walks in.

"Lord Infinite, Dinner will begin soon, shall I fetch your meal?" He asks.

"No, I seem to have lost my appetite." Both Zero and Infinite say to their servers.


	4. Power Difference

_Chapter 4: Power Difference_

"It been almost a month since Infinite's pledge to bring the world to its state under Emperor Lelouch's reign, but no major attacks of terrorist groups have been reported." Milly Ashford said on the news channel. "Could this all have been some sort of play? A stunt pulled by a man without a true purpose? Or could he simply be bidding his time?"

_If I know him the way I know I do, it's the third option._ Suzaku thinks.

"Lord Zero, can I get you anything?" Zero's attendant asks. "Lord Zero?"

"Huh," Suzaku had blanked.

"Can I get you anything?" The attendant asks again.

"Oh, no, nothing." He replies.

"Just let me know if you need anything."

"...You know what, on second thought, could you go find a chess set for me?"

"Chess set? Very well then, I'll be right back." The attendant leaves the room.

Suzaku thinks about his options at this point. He is sure Lelouch is alive, and Infinite on top of that. One choice he had was to simply expose him to the community, but that might also lead to suspicions against himself. Another route he had before him was simply to play it out, and see where this new plan Lelouch has leads; which he believed to be his best option. Then there was the third option, which was a clean sweep. This would be where he makes plans against anything Lelouch might do and capture him early on, ending the Reverse Rebellion sooner, and then question Lelouch in private. But that could contradict important information on these weapons he created and some other things he was foggy on.

The Attendant returned, carrying a chess set carefully in her hands, then laid it out on the coffee table in front of Zero.

"Is there anything else you will need?" She asks.

"No, in fact take a half hour break and leave me alone for a while." Zero wishes.

"Of course, Lord Zero." She replies then leaves the room.

Every now and then Suzaku would tell her to take a half hour break so he could take his mask off. But this time he wanted more than just that, he needed to be alone with the image of Lelouch in this chess set.

"So then Infinite, what is your first move?" He asks himself, although the question was really toward everything else.

Just then, an alert in the room went off, and the News channel broke off from its current report, switching to a live report.

"We interrupt today's regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you stirring news." Milly begins. "We have just received intelligence of KnightCrawlers attacking Babel Tower, along with the Gawain. Enemy number estimated at 500."

Already Suzaku was putting his mask back on and heading out the door, not having touched the chess board, and putting on a speaker microphone.

"To all personnel, I'm sure you already know, but Infinite has made his first move and attacked Babel Tower. I want 1,000 of our stronger Knightmares mobilized to the area. Kallen and I shall also proceed there in our Knightmare, dispatch immediately." Zero then cut's off from here and takes his elevator down to his Lancelot's hanger, where Lloyd is waiting.

"The preparations are all finished Lord Zero." Lloyd says.

"Good, I'm leaving immediately." Zero replies and climbs into his seat.

"3... 2... 1... Lancelot, Launch!" Lloyd says.

"Lancelot, Launch!" Zero says and shoots the Lancelot across its launching pad and takes off.

The energy wings become active soon after he deploys and he flies strait for Babel Tower. Kallen soon appears and joins up with Zero.

"Babel Tower again, where everything started." Kallen says, remembering that Babel Tower was the place the Black Nights were officially introduced." Or rather where everything ended really."

"In any case, this is where the cycle continues." Zero replies.

"So it seems." Kallen says, seeming depressed.

Kallen and Zero lead their 1,000 troops to the Babel Tower, it had been overtaken by the Reverse Knights. But what they saw about the Reverse Knights themselves were even more surprising. In the last year, very few Energy winged Knightmares had been made, so most air troops still had to rely on regular float systems. But this was in no way the case for their enemy. Each and every one of the 500 troops that had captured Babel Tower had Energy Wings. In a matter of moments, everyone knew that their troops would be cut by 3 quarters, even just a few Energy winged Knightmares were able to destroy dozens of regular ones in seconds. To top it off, the total number of their forces that did have Energy Wings were 25, and of them, only about 10 had Hydron cannon equipped. this was about as much of a one sided battle as it could be.

The Gawain KnightCrawler stepped forward.

Infinite spoke. "The enemy has appeared, drive through and cut them down swiftly. ATTACK!" At this command, all 500 units zoomed in every direction and around Zero's forces and completely annihilated the troops without energy wings in seconds.

And the 25 that did possess them were left surrounded. Not a single Reverse Knight was taken out. Then Infinite flew into the circle, approaching Zero's Lancelot.

"Acknowledge defeat and I shall not kill you, but merely take you hostage."

Suzaku thought over his options, if he did what he was told, he and the remaining troops would live; but it would be seen by all of Japan as an act of coward ness. On the other hand, the Geass Lelouch put on him two years ago to _live on _was still active. and it had saved his life in countless situations. But his subordinates were not so lucky, if he did this, he would escape with good certainty, but they might as well be fish fry, and he couldn't bring himself to that. So he did what he could; he stalled.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I believe I made my position clear the first time. I am going to restore Emperor Lelouch's reign, the one YOU stole from him, Zero." was Infinite's reply.

"I mean why are you in Japan? If you wish to restore his rule, you should have started with the Holy Empire of Britannia, not Japan."

Lelouch was fazed for a second, it had not occurred to him someone would ask such a question, but in haste he answered.

"I started in _Area 11," _He began, trying to make it clear how much he wanted the rule returned. "Because it was here that Emperor Lelouch was killed, and his reign ended. Therefore, It shall begin again, in the same place. I also had started here because it is where you, Emperor Lelouch's murderer, reside, and if the reign is to ever be truly restored, you must be taken out of the picture."

"Then why not kill me now? You said if I surrendered I would only be apprehended, not killed. But if you want me out of the picture you would have to kill me; isn't that the whole point?" Zero shoots.

"True, in order to have you completely out of the way, I would have to kill you."

"Then why not?"

"I want you alive for the time being, to see the terror on the face under the mask." Infinite began. "See the horror that after a year of peace, your just a weak insolent man who only prolonged The Holy Empires total reign."

"I see, So you want my face exposed when I am killed do you."

"Yes, it would also please me to know how loyal people are to you after you are exposed."

"Are you accusing me of some sort of crime, Infinite?"

"Not accusing, merely stating that there are a number of faces that could be under that mask, and the reaction of the people will differ depending on that face."

"So you really think you've won, don't you Infinite?"

"Of course I have, you are outnumbered 1 to 20; you cannot win."

"Win?" This time Kallen spoke. "Now who said anything about beating you now? All we have to do is make a hole and escape."

"The slightest move your all dead, how could you possibly escape?"

"We've had a year to improve our technology." Kallen began.

"Just because you have some tricks of your own, doesn't mean we can't have an ace or two."

Just then, a Hydron cannon is fired from the right of the Reverse Knights and destroys them, taking them by surprise. But what was more surprising was that Zero's troops were caught in the blast, and when the blast ended, they were not there.

"What, where did they go?" Infinite wonders and looks on his radar, but they have vanished.

Then a 'sound only' radio chat opened up on his screen.

"Don't try to look for us on your radar, we have a cloaking mechanism that protects us from any sort of detection. That's the whole reason we let ourselves be caught in the Hydron cannon fired just now. We used a perfect barrier which acted as a bullet shell, and the cannon shoot us across the field."

"So your cloaking was why we didn't notice your person who fired the cannon before hand."

"Exactly, you have won this battle I'm afraid, and Babel Tower is your prize, But the war is far from over, The difference in strength is great, we have a ways to go to catch up with your units. So for now I bid you good-bye Infinite." Zero says and closes the radio chat; leaving the Reverse Knights in possession of Babel Tower, unfortunately having to retreat.


	5. Plan Known Three Huge Forces in Jeopardy

_Chapter 5: Plan Known, Three Major Forces in Jeopardy_

"It has been 3 days since the Reverse Rebellion took hold of Babel Tower. Day and Night the KnightCrawlers have been circling the area to prevent anyone from getting in. The question has circled through everyone's head at this point; how did Infinite get his hands on so much technology and make these disastrous KnightCrawlers? This question has everyone, even our own Lord Zero, muffled in confusion. How will we ever hope to get out of this mess with our country still intact?" Milly reports on the news.

"This is just horrible." Nunnally says to Suzaku with tears in her eyes, who asked his assistant to leave when she came in, and now has his mask off. "Why is my brother doing all this?"

"I wish I had some sort of idea Nunnally." Suzaku replied. "Why does Lelouch want any of this? What could his goal possibly be in this war?"

"Suzaku, what is going to happen now?"

"I wish I knew." Suzaku said, putting his mask back on. Then the T.V. flickered and the image changed into a picture of Infinite.

"Infinite!" Zero stood up in surprise.

"Sorry it took me so long/" But Lelouch cut himself off at the site of Nunnally in the room. "...to get this connection ready, Zero."

"Connection, you hacked into my T.V.?" Zero said.

"That is correct, I wanted to give you a heads up on my next move." Infinite startling both Zero and Nunnally.

"A heads up, you're telling me your next target?"

"Yes, and I also see you have company today. This is quite sweet really, I now have both the one who killed Emperor Lelouch, along with his sister, who most grieved his death of anyone." Nunnally shuddered. "That raises a strange question to you, Nunnally Vi Britannia. What side do you truly belong to?"

Nunnally went wide-eyed at Infinite's question, in total shock, and Zero turned to her. "W-What did you just... ask?" Nunnally shuddered.

"What side do you truly belong to? The side that killed your brother, or the side that wishes to avenge your brother?"

"That is quite enough Infinite." Zero interrupted.

"Ah very well. As I was saying before, my next target. My next target is none other than Ashford Academy!" Infinite declared. "In 2 days the Academy that once was held by Emperor Lelouch when he was Zero will be held again by his avengers."

"I see, if that is all, I'll bid your leave." Zero said, and Infinites picture fazed out, reverting to the news channel.

Zero walks over to the door and stepped through it, where his assistant waited.

"Please escort our guest to a room, she will be staying with us for a while." He told her.

"What will you do, Zero?" Nunnally posed the question, still in shock.

"I'm going to make a couple calls." Was Zero's reply as he walked off.

Infinite dropped into his chair. "I don't believe it, Nunnally was there!" Lelouch says and takes off his mask.

"This is a surprise, when did Zero and Nunnally even meet?" C.C. said from the side.

"This is most troubling." Jeremiah said.

"This can't be possible, if Suzaku knows, and Nunnally is with him, then that means..." He couldn't bear to finish the thought.

"That means she most likely knows everything." C.C. finished for him.

"So what will you do now, Lord Lelouch?" Jeremiah asked.

"I can't do anything about this, there is no option here."

"Why did you tell her she should join you?" C.C. posed the question.

"In hopes to lead them off the idea that I am Infinite. Why would Lelouch, who's plan was to die in the first place, want her sister to join in rebellion against peace?"

"Shall I begin to make preparations for the raid at Ashford Academy?" Jeremiah asked.

Lelouch put his mask back on and answered. "Yes, make it a small task force this time, 27 plus us should be enough."

"Oh, so Jeremiah and I are going as well this time?" C.C. asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes, we need to show them know our true power."

Zero had entered a video chat room and made a request to speak with two specific people. It had taken a few minutes, but then both sides of his screen turned on, and two faces shown on them.

"100th Empress of Britannia, Cornelia. Royal Vizier of the Empress of the Chinese Federation, Xingke." He said as they were who he now spoke to.

After Lelouch had died, Tainzi had become the Empress of the Chinese Federation, and made Xingke her Royal Vizier. Nunnally was actually supposed to become the 100th Empress of Britannia after Lelouch's murder, however she had been so sorrowful she was not able to bring herself to take the chair, and gave it to her older sister, Cornelia.

"Zero, have you any news on Infinite's plans?" Cornelia asked.

"Yes, and it is most troubling indeed. As you know, he has a great number of KnightCrawlers, and I now know he is planning to capture Ashford Academy."

"Ashford Academy, why that?" Cornelia asks.

"Do excuse me, but Infinite is not really the Chinese Federation's problem right now." Xingke notes.

"Incorrect, in fact, it is your problem for the same reason he is going to try and capture Ashford Academy." Zero saying this makes both of them listen carefully. "It is clear to me the Infinite plans to Avenge Lelouch Vi Britannia's reign by first capturing all important landmarks that fell victim to him during his reign as Zero. His exact words were... ' In 2 days the Academy that once was held by Emperor Lelouch when he was Zero will be held again by his avengers.'... In this case, He will most likely, once finished here in Japan, he will go and capture the Chinese Federation." Xingke flinches at this.

"Then after that he will come here and capture Britannia for the last step." Cornelia says.

"Furthermore, I have need to tell you, Cornelia, that your younger sister Nunnally is here in Japan at this moment, and that fact is known to Infinite as well." Cornelia was shocked to hear this.

"No," She gasped, then slammed her fist on a table. "I want you to do everything to ensure her safety Zero!" She shouts in mixed anger at Zero, Nunnally, and herself.

"I have indeed already taken those precaution, she will be staying here in my building until we can either end this or find a way to safely export her back to Britannia."

Cornelia relaxed now. "Thank goodness. I will send the Knight of Rounds, and come there personally as well, immediately." Cornelia said before turning her communication off.

"As for you Xingke, it is not only in our best interest, but yours as well that you help us out. If you don't and Infinite defeats us here, you won't want to be facing him on your own."

"Of Course, I will come and help." Xingke replies and cuts his transmission as well.

Zero found his assistant. "Where is Nunnally Vi Britannia staying?"

"In the room just down the hall from yours Lord Zero." She replied.

Zero entered the room and found Nunnally still wide-eyed. "Nunnally," He began as he took off his mask.

"Suzaku... what do I do?"

"You stay safe, Lelouch won't harm you, but everyone else thinks he would. So stay here, for everyone's sake."

Nunnally begins to calm down. "Alright," She says and yawns, ready to sleep.

Suzaku puts his mask back on and leaves, as she drifts into sleep, He needed to plan 2 days from now.


	6. The First Challenge

_Chapter 6: The First Challenge_

The day Infinite had specified as the day he would take Ashford Academy had come. it was a Sunday, so luckily no one would be inside the school, in harms way. Suzaku wondered why Lelouch hadn't attacked on a school day, because then he would have captives with which to bargain his demands with. Some had come to the guess that he didn't want us to lose to him through sympathy and want to save civilians, but rather give in to his power.

Infinite had not specified a time in which he would take the school, so they had been in their Knightmares, waiting there since the sun rose, Although Zero had assumed Infinite would strike at noon, they weren't taking chances. Because of this, they had some food and bottled water in their cockpits. Zero was the only one who had his cockpit closed while eating, naturally.

Then, just as Zero had predicted, around noon everyone received a 'sound only' radio transmission, and it was from Infinite.

"Hello one and all." He spoke. "I see the Britanninan Knight of Rounds are here as well as Empress Cornelia and Royal Vizier Xingke. All the people I had expected to be here."

This statement rung true as Infinite had not come with a huge force, but rather with a mere 30 KnightCrawlers to match the number of their Knightmares.

"Now let us begin the battle." Infinite said as his 30 spread out and Zero's troops swung around to battle them.

Kallen flew up and noticed a black version of her Guren SEITEN and that it was heading for her. Zero and his Lancelot were going strait for Infinite and his Gawain. The Shen Hu and Xingke were heading into the battle and were attacked by a black version of the Siegfried. Cornelia piloted a custom Knightmare that had been made for her once she became the Empress of Britannia, and it had been named after her: Corneli MK. She was about to go in when what she thought was the Lancelot for a moment cut in front of her, but she realized quickly that it was a black version of the Lancelot, just like all of the Reverse Rebellions KnightCrawlers.

Everyone had been locked into one on one matches with one of the KnightCrawlers, and Kallen was the only one who realized exactly how uneven the stakes really were in this situation. They could put up a fight, but when it came down to the long-run, Knightmares were clearly out-classed in battle.

Kallen and her opponent exchange strikes, then turn and strike again, locking claws. "What do you call this thing huh? You couldn't have kept the name 'Guren' right." Kallen posses the question to her opponent.

"This is the Reverse Rebellion, so we made a point by reversing the name of the Knightmares designs. So we have simply named this one Nerug (_pronounced as it looks.)_" The pilot answered, and although Kallen did not know, the pilot was C.C.

"Siegfried? But only one man can pilot that." Xingke was bewildered.

"Yes, that man has joined the Reverse Rebellion, Jeremiah." Anya told him. "He tricked me and used Gefjun Disturbers so he could escape me while I was fallowing him."

"Indeed, it is I, Jeremiah Gottwald. I now pilot what you shall be known as the Deirfgeis _(pronounced: deer-f-guise.)_" Was Jeremiah's reply.

The Corneli MK and black Lancelot crossed blades.

"So, who is it that pilots a Reverse Lancelot?"

"You have no need to know my name, and this is not the Lancelot. This is known as the Tolecnal _(pronounced: toll-eke-nil.)" _The man inside answered.

"That's interesting," Zero said as he did battle with Infinite. "Why have you not reversed the name of the Gawain like everyone else?"

"I have not done so because that would be disrespectful to His Majesty Lelouch Vi Britannia, as this was the Knightmare he piloted."

"I see," Zero replied simply.

All thirty members of each side had been plunged into head off battles. Kallen couldn't see much of a way out of this one; she felt like they wouldn't be able to protect Ashford Academy from being captured. Like they were just postponing the inevitable. But she knew no one hear, especially not Zero, would give up just because they thought that. So neither would she.

Kallen used her Guren and flew in circles around her opponent Nerug to try and confuse her. C.C. was quite displeased at her lame attempt and stretched out its right arm out toward the area she was circling in. Kallen saw this and took her chance, she reached out with the Guren's left arm and grabbed the Nerug's wrist, as to avoid the energy pulsar in that hand then reached around with her own right arm to strike the Nerug.

The Shen Hu was fighting the Deirfgeis, who the only pilot on the opposing side they actually knew who was. Jeremiah spun his KnightCrawler to make it difficult to approach him. Xingke used his slash harkens and swung them around both sides of the Deirfgeis and rapped around it to try and stop it. He was successful in this but then Jeremiah mad two if the spikes on his KnightCrawler burst out toward him and Xingke used his newly equipped energy wing to fly himself up, and didn't let go of his opponent so he could finish him off. But once he had shoot upward, Jeremiah shoot three more of the spikes toward him as the first two returned, and Xingke was forced to let go in order to dodge.

Cornelia had been pinned off against the black Lancelot: Tolecnal, but her new custom Knightmare was putting up a good fight against it. The Corneli MK was truly a more offensive Knightmare. it was equipped with the same kind of blades as the Lancelot, and had twice the number of slash harkens as a normal Knightmare. Since the Tolecnal had the same kind of blades as her, they had paired each other off in sword battle. After a few clashes her opponent jumped back and pulled its gun and fired a few rounds at her Knightmare, but with energy wings, those weren't difficult to dodge. After he stopped firing the rounds, she made use of her slash harkens and had them strike at her opponent from multiple angles. But the Tolecnal was to fast for them, it jumped at Cornelia and kicked it, and Cornelia rounded back around it.

Zero and Infinite were in an all out brawl on each other, But Zero was being pushed back. Infinite had used his Gawain's many ploys to get the upper hand. Zero's Lancelot was able to put up a fight, but just as Kallen knew, it was no match in the long run. If there was even one more Knightmare with energy wings on their side, they might have a chance of winning, but not as there were. Suzaku wondered what Lelouch's plan was in this situation, why hadn't he come with more KnightCrawlers, that way it would have been easy to beat them. But that wasn't what Lelouch wanted in the long run, So how was Lelouch planning to win this exactly?

That question was answered soon. And once it had formed it was almost to obvious to believe he missed it. All of the KnightCrawlers were setting everyone up in a formation for a final strike. Almost simultaneously the KnightCrawlers fired their Hydron Cannons at their opponents, and all the Knightmares in answer used their Perfect Barriers and were knocked back by the beams. This was when they realized the plan, because they had all been knocked into each other for the fact they were fired from different point all heading the same direction. They had been set up in a circle so this would happen, and the Cannons didn't cease fire after a moment or two, they continued on. Neither the Cannons or the barriers could hold out forever, and everyone felt that it would be the shields that ran out of juice first.

Zero wanted to stay and fight to protect Ashford Academy, but the Geass Lelouch had placed on him to "live on" was still active even now, and it screamed at him to run away from here, he had no choice anymore.

"Everyone, retreat!" Zero screamed at his followers and they all went downward to escape the rays of the Hydron Cannons, then dropped their shields and raised their cloaking devices and flew away, leaving Ashford Academy to Infinites disposal.


	7. Upgrades

_Chapter 7: Upgrades_

Zero sat on his couch, in front of the chess board he was playing by himself. If he, Zero, was black, then Infinite would be white, and at this point the white side was winning. At this point it was Lelouch's turn, so what would be his next move?

"I'm not in a favorable position. I haven't been from the start." Suzaku said underneath his mask.

"Well if your always waiting for your opponent to move," The attendant spoke behind him. "There's no way to get in a favorable position. Staying on the defensive is never the best option."

"Hm, maybe your right." His attendant was more or less speaking in terms of the chess game rather than the war, but it still worked both ways.

And she was right, staying on the defensive wouldn't get him anywhere in this war, he knew two places the Reverse Knights were. Infinite had a few pieces on the board. He just had to go to one of them rather than wait for him to come to him.

"If I'm going to turn the tables, We're going to have to make some upgrades." Zero stated.

Just then something popped on to his T.V. screen, which did work as a communicator between place in the building.

It was Lloyd, Cecil was behind him. "I'm one step ahead of you Lord Zero, now if you would please come down here I will demonstrate for you." He said and cut the transmission off as quickly as he had started it.

Zero got up and left the room, then took an elevator down to Lloyd's floor. When he arrived, Kallen, Cornelia, and Xingke were also there.

"Professor Lloyd, do you really have something that can help us beat the KnightCrawlers?"

"I believe I do, allow us to explain." Lloyd says and turns to Cecil.

"Yes, the biggest advantage the Reverse Knights have at this point are their number of energy winged machines, and their Hydron cannons." Kallen remembered just how good their cannons was, somehow, they had found a way to twist the beams mid flight and round back at them. "So during your previous battle with them, we had a Knightmare with cloaking technology scan the Hydron cannons to try and see how it worked."

"Wait, I thought that we could only move around while using cloaking technology, wouldn't using the scans turn the cloaking off?" Zero asked as a reference.

"Scanning is actually the only thing that doesn't take too much energy that it would shut down the cloaking." Lloyd answered.

"What we got from this scan was that their Hydron cannons were infused with some form of nanotechnology that allowed them to control the direction of the beam."

"So what have you made to counter this?" Xingke asked.

"It's a bit of a displacer machine mixed with a Gefjun Disturber." Lloyd answered.

"Yes, with it, you can emit a vibration at a frequency that shuts down the nanotech in the Hydron cannons."

"Wouldn't that still leave us with the regular cannons to worry about?" Cornelia wondered.

"On the contrary You Highness." Lloyd said.

"We thought that at first as well, which wouldn't make this machine of any use because for now, it only works at a range up to 2 feet away from where its source. However when we ran it through the simulator, the Hydron cannon would break apart along with the deactivation of its nanotechnology."

"Really, why is that?" Kallen couldn't help but wonder.

"It works that way because the nanotech is completely infused with the cannons." Lloyd said.

"Exactly, because the nano technology is directly infused with the cannons, anything that happens to them, happens to the cannon itself, which is what causes it to bend." Cecil concluded.

"Then there are the Energy wings, we have given a second frequency not much different from the first one we just mentioned that is closer to a Gefjun Disturber that will almost completely shut them down if you can get close enough to them."

"Almost?" Zero clarified.

"Yes, how their speed will be turned off, It will still work as a float system, so they won't go into a free-fall." Cecil answered.

"And it only works for 10 minutes after turning the frequency off." Lloyd added.

"This is indeed very helpful, but may I ask what the chances of these being successes are?" Zero asked, knowing that Lloyd could not be 100 % certain on these things.

"Yes, how the energy wing De-Charge is sure to work, The Hydron Break Down, or HyBreD, has a 20% chance of not working like it did in the simulator."

"It's better odds than you usually get." Zero says, though he doesn't like the chance of it failing.

"As of yet, this is all I have to offer, but I am working on other projects to upgrade the Knightmares." Lloyd says and the four people leave.

Zero goes back to his room, where a lunch is waiting for him next to the chess board. Suzaku removed his mask, as his attendant had left the room. He began to eat and looked at the chess board. He smiled as he now had a chance to go on the offence.

"Well it looks like everything is going according to plan so far." Lelouch said, twirling a white king piece in his hand.

"As far as the rebellion goes," C.C. commented. "What makes you think Suzaku can destroy the Code anyways?"

"It's not that someone else couldn't do it just as easily as Suzaku, but it's that Suzaku is the only one I can depend on to do it."

"What is your plan for destroying the Code my Lord?" Jeremiah asked.

"I'm not completely certain on that, but I'll figure it out." Lelouch answers then someone knocks on the door. "Come in." Lelouch say and puts his mask back on.

A young boy about the age of 14 comes in. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes.

"Ah, Bai, how have things been coming along?" Infinite asked the boy.

"I've already done what I can for today." Bai answered.

"Good, I'll wait another week before going to the next stage. That should be enough KnightCrawlers right? To take the Shinjuku and Saitama Ghettos?"

"I believe so." Bai replied.

"One more question, how id it feel piloting the Tolecnal?" Infinite asked, as Bai was the one fighting Cornelia yesterday.

"It felt almost natural, since I know it inside and out."

"Good, that's exactly what I wanted to here, now go get some rest, your Geass needs to be at full power tomorrow when you use it again."

"Of course." Bai says and leaves the room.

"What is that boy's Geass my Lord?" Jeremiah pondered.

"You mean you haven't guessed yet, how else would I have gotten so many KnightCrawlers?" Lelouch answers. "The boy's power is to be able to copy anything he sees, or has the knowledge of how it looked and worked. All he would need is some material which to make it out of."

"So we told him exactly how we wanted the KnightCrawlers made, then gave him a few junk yards of metal, and he did the rest." C.C. added.

"We call his Geass the 'Ultimate Factory' Geass. However he has a limit, he can make up to 50 things with his Geass, anymore and he would exhaust it and die. Just like Rolo did a year ago saving me." Lelouch explained.

"Yes, and we can't have that happening, at some point we will run out of energy packs if that happened." C.C. says.

"I see, and what was the boy working on today?" Jeremiah asked.

"A modified version of our opponents Cloaking technology and Perfect Barriers." Lelouch answered. "If we have what they have, the battle becomes even more to our advantage."

"It's strange, up to now, anyone who obtained Geass in some way affected people, but not this boy's, how is that?" Jeremiah wondered.

"It is a mystery to us as well, we just lucked out when we got him, as to why his Geass has been the only one not to affect people, we may never know."

"All I ever knew was that the Geass' abilities changed depending on the user. But I myself have never seen a Geass quite like his." C.C. said.

"We just need to be thankful we have him and hope he doesn't betray us." Lelouch ended the conversation.


	8. Turning the Tables

_Chapter 8: Turning the Tables_

Suzaku was in the middle of eating his lunch, and then he looked at his chess board, which he was using to demonstrate the war between him and Lelouch. It had been three days since Infinite took Ashford academy, and of course no one was allowed near it now, they couldn't risk someone being taken captive.

"Lord Zero," Lloyd spoke through a 'sound only' chat line. "The De-Charge and HyBreD installments are complete. Just as you requested, the Guren, Lancelot, Corneli MK, and Shen Hu have been given the equipment."

"Excellent work Professor Lloyd, tell the others we will depart for Ashford Academy in 1 hour." Suzaku replied.

"Of course," Lloyd said then cut his line.

Suzaku finished his meal, put on his mask and walked out of his room. His attendant was on her way back to the room.

"Throw the remains of my lunch away." He told her.

"Yes, Lord Zero." She said and entered the room.

Zero walked down the hall and entered Nunnally's room. Nunnally looked up at him and smiled, and as the door closed behind him, Suzaku removed his mask.

"In a few hours, Kallen, Cornelia, Xingke and I will be departing for the Ashford academy to try and take it back." He told her.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Nunnally asked.

"No, but with our new equipment, we may have a better chance of victory. Don't worry, I won't let any of them die." Suzaku assured her.

"I'm most worried about you." Nunnally said.

"You don't have any reason to worry about me, Lelouch's Geass command to 'live on' is still strong in me, I'm not going down anytime soon." Suzaku argued. "Meantime, we still need to get you back to Britannia."

"No, I want to stay here, where I know my brother is." Nunnally argued.

"I know how you must feel Nunnally, but you must understand you position. Everyone believes that while you are here, you are in grave danger, as Lelouch's sister. You can't stay in Japan for much longer." Suzaku reasoned.

Nunnally scowled. "Fine, but at least a couple weeks? Seeing your face again after a long year, it's comforting."

"OK, we'll keep you in Japan for a couple more weeks, but after that, you need to head for Britannia." Suzaku agreed somewhat reluctantly, but not completely. Seeing Nunnally like this brought back some joy to Suzaku as well.

Suzaku put the mask of Zero on again and left the room. He walked to an elevator and went down to the dispatch floor, where Lloyd and the prepared Knightmares were waiting. It took only a few more minutes for the other three to arrive, ready to depart.

"OK, the two aspects of this mission are to reclaim Ashford Academy and test out the new equipment. But of course Ashford takes priority, now let's go." Zero told the others.

The four pilots got into their cockpits and launched into the air. rather than using their energy wings, they used the base float system, that way they had enough energy to use the cloaking systems. They slowly crossed the area from the government building to Ashford Academy, in their invisible Knightmares.

When the four got past the gates of Ashford, Kallen turned on her scanner, and examined the building.

"It appears that that the major aspects, the Gawain, Tolecnal, Nerug, and Deirfgeis, are gone, only the other 21 identical Knightmares are defending the building." She whispered through her communicator to her group.

"OK, the plan here is to take them down one by one, try to be as silent as possible, and don't take them on if their is more than one other in the immediate area." Zero told them. "Move out."

The four of them, still cloaked with invisibility, floated slowly to the enemy they saw on their radars. Zero took the one that was closest to them at the moment, but did not strike immediately, he wanted to give the others time to find someone and get in position. It took a few minutes because they had to be slow and stealthy.

Once the four got in positions , Zero began the countdown.

"Five, four, three," _The moment I take my blade out, the clocking goes down, so I have to take it out, slash him, put the blade away and reboot the cloaking system in practically the same instant. _"Two, one, GO!" he said and at that moment all four of them struck down their target, killing them with incredible ease since they didn't have the slightest idea they were there, but their signal's were lost in the process, signaling to the other 17 still there someone had arrived.

"What the crap, four signal's were just lost in an instant! What's going on?" One man said as he took his KnightCrawler round to were one of the signals died.

A few other members of the Reverse Knights did the same, hoping to get some action while they were sitting around in this dirt hole.

One man swung around and flew toward the agent Zero killed, and seeing the rubble of his KnightCrawler, felt the need to call one man for back up before going any closer. as one more KnightCrawler began to move for him, Zero had already floated behind him, then as the next person got close, he took his blade again, releasing his cloaking and alarming the man in front of him, very briefly, before he too was destroyed in an instant.

Similar events accrued with the other three, two men had come to where the Corneli MK waited, and she shoot a pair of slash harkens strait into their cockpits, and destroying them as well. one man came to the Guren's position, and she caught it with her energy pulsar arm and extinguished it just as fast as it arrived. Three arrived at the Shun Hu's location, and with it's special slash harkens, it cut through all three in almost the same moment.

The one called by the man near Zero had just arrived after the man who called him was destroyed, his KnightCrawlers pieces still falling to the ground. The first thing that went through his head was to high-tail it out of there. It was also the last thing that went through his mind, as Zero cut him in half on the spot. This left nine people at Ashford.

The nine men had quickly agreed splitting up was the worst decision to make, so they would all move to the same area together. The worst decision they could have made though, was heading to where the Corneli MK was waiting, how the other three had also began to move, they believed that with her multiple slash harkens, Cornelia would be fine. They nine enemies approached the area slowly, with caution. The Corneli MK had a total of 8 slash harkens, which would be near perfect for this situation.

As they got in range, Cornelia struck, shutting off her cloaking and sending her weapon's flying. all 8 she had aimed for were destroyed, and the one that was left readied his Hydron Cannon, and fired it just as the slash harkens had come back in. Cornelia had no time to dodge or launch a counter Cannon as it was coming strait for her now. She had only one option, to use the HyBreD and save herself, assuming it worked. So she stretch out her hand toward the Hydron Cannon and pressed a button. A strange frequency sounded and as the cannon came within 5 inches of her hand, it snapped into nothing.

"What the heck!" The man screamed at this sight, and before having any clue what had happened, Zero tore off his cloaking and struck him down as well, and completely re-capturing the Ashford Academy.

They actually tried to avoid using the HyBreD function because it could have failed, and they would be destroyed. The others dropped their cloaking systems and joined with Cornelia.

"Now we know the HyBreD works." Cornelia said.

"Yes, and it's good news." Zero said. "But this was mostly a trail run of strategy, unless we get more upgrades, this Academy won't stay our for a week."

"Exactly, so let's start brainstorming." Kallen said, and the four left for the Government building again, and send defense troops back here.


	9. Upgrades 2

_Chapter 9: Upgrade 2_

"What, the Ashford Academy has been re-captured? How did this happen?" Infinite roared at a scout who was sent out had reported back.

"I don't know Lord Infinite, when I arrived it was surrounded by Knightmares. But I have brought a survivor I found just outside the Academy back, Lord Infinite, perhaps he can give us some insight." The scout replied.

"Very well, let him in."

The door opened and a man was rolled in on a wheelchair. His face was slightly burnt and he had wounds all over his body, including a broken leg. A nurse had helped him as much she could and bandaged him up. It almost looked like he was unconscious, but he rose his head with difficulty once he was opposite of Infinite.

"We were taken by surprise." He said, straining himself with every word. "They used their cloaking ability to sneak up behind us, then dragged us out in small numbers to take us down."

"What were their numbers?" Infinite asked.

"Uncertain, but the smallest their force could have been is four." He answered.

"Four, such a small number overwhelmed you?"

"Like I said it is uncertain, the smallest force is four because that is how it started. Four units had been destroyed in a signal instant, that's when everything went downhill."

"I see, in that case, it probably was four. Is their anything else you need to tell me about?"

"Yes, just one thing."

"What is it?"

"They have a new weapon, they called it Hybred, I think."

"What does this weapon do?"

"It neutralizes our Hydron Cannons. it shuts down the nanotechnology inside them and dissolves them away, making it impossible to connect."

"What, they made a device that interferes with the nano Hydron Cannons?"

"It would appear as much Lord Infinite."

"I see, if that is all, return him to the infirmary." The man nodded his head without bringing it back up and the women who brought him in turned him around and left.

"It appears we aren't the only ones getting new tricks up our sleeves." C.C. spoke.

"So it would, but it will take more than disabling our Hydron Cannons to stop me." Lelouch replied, taking off his helmet.

"Do you really believe Suzaku can stop you, can kill you?"

"I do C.C. I believe he can."

"I hope your right, Lord Lelouch." Jeremiah stated from the corner.

"Now then, back to business." Lelouch says and puts his mask back on.

C.C., Jeremiah, and Infinite walk down to the KnightCrawler hanger and find Bai working on the upgrades for the KnightCrawlers. Jeremiah now sees that Bai has an advanced Geass, one in both his eyes that he is unable to turn off. Also that he is using the special contact lenses to keep them at bay as Lelouch did a year ago.

"Bai, how are you on today?" Infinite asks him as they arrive.

Bai puts his power control lenses on before turning to face them. "I've actually just finished today's run. What do you need?"

"I'm going to postpone the Ghetto Raid another 3 week, our enemy is getting stronger, we're going to need more troops going then I suspected."

"Any more devices you want me to work on?"

"Just one, I need you to give the KnightCrawlers an option of firing regular Hydron Cannons, rather than our bend-fire nanotech Cannons."

"Understood, I will start in the morning."

"I will be thinking of anything else that could be useful to us." Infinite says then walks away, heading for his room.

"So, I hear the HyBreD was a success Lord Zero." Lloyd says, practically dancing.

"They were, great work professor Lloyd. Keep working on improving the Knightmares, we're going to need all the help we can get." Zero replied.

"I'm glad you said something, actually, because of how successful our little cloaking sneak attack worked so well, I've been working on an upgraded version of it."

"How's that coming along?"

"Actually," someone spoke from behind Zero. When he turned he saw Rakshata. "It was my idea, so he should be saying _we_ have been working on." She remarked.

"Professor Rakshata, when did you get here?" Zero asked.

After the war ended a year ago Rakshata had decided to go to Britannia and work as the Empresses mechanic. She had claimed she didn't want to Lloyd bugging her with his unusually peppy attitude, but both Lloyd and Cecil knew she really just thought she would be needed more there than here.

"I came here with the Empress actually. Someone needed to make sure this buffoon didn't screw up any of our Britannian Knightmares." She said, pointing her pipe at Lloyd.

"I see, so what is the progress on the upgraded cloaking?" Zero asked, addressing both Lloyd and Rakshata now.

"We've managed thus far a mere 5% energy intake decrease, but this is a pretty difficult piece of technology, it's not something you can shorten the power of and still use to it's fullest." Rakshata explained.

"I see," Zero said.

"And that's exactly why we won't be using it to it's fullest." Lloyd said, Zero turned to him. "Rakshata and I have even had someone already test it, with a 15% decrease in energy intake, we can keep the cloaking up, even if you were to use more advanced devices like the energy wings or the Lancelot's blades."

"So long as that's not at the same time." Rakshata added. "Also, because we've lowered the energy intake by so much, the cloaking losses some of it's strength."

"Some?" Zero noted.

"Exactly, if your using the energy wings or your blades, your form will be slightly visible." Lloyd explained.

"By this we mean, you'll still be invisible completely to radar, and still transparent, but it will appear as if something is bending the light around where you are." Rakshata continued.

"This way, even though it's possible to tell your position, most people actually won't be able to tell your there unless they get within 20 ft of you and are looking strait at you." Lloyd concluded.

"I see, that's good work. keep working on it. Maybe we can get it perfected before Infinite's next attack." Zero said, then left for the time being.

Infinite, C.C., Jeremiah, and Bai were brainstorming ideas for the KnightCrawlers.

"What they need is a new weapon." C.C. said.

"Agreed, we have enough defenses against taking damage, now we need more tools to deal damage with." Jeremiah said.

"That's all and good, but what will it be." Bai protested.

"Indeed, we need an idea, not a basis." Infinite added.

The group of four thought long and hard about this new weapon. They had small ideas over the past few hours, but none of them were very good. After a few more hours, just before dinner took place, C.C. thought of something.

"An electric net." She said, thinking out loud. The others turned to her. "What if we used an electric device to through a surge of electricity at the opponent?"

Infinite registered this idea for a moment. "That sounds like a good idea, we could use it to drain their power as well."

"Yes, it would give us a nice advantage." Jeremiah agreed. "Do you think you can make that Bai?"

"How much power?" Bai asks.

"Make it 4 containers that can hold 1000 watts each. make it like a pack with tubes that go along the arms." Infinite replied.

"Will do starting tomorrow." Bai answered, then left yawning.

"Performing upgrades to each of their weapons individually won't be something easy, Pudding Earl." Rakshata told Lloyd.

"It will be quite helpful you know. And are you really still calling me that?" Lloyd replied.

"Yes, yes, anyways, how exactly will all this play out? What exactly are we doing to them?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure just yet." Lloyd said and Rakshata scowled at him. "Let's start with the Guren, shall we?"

"Tch, fine." Rakshata said and walked over to Lloyd as they looked at a diagram of the Guren. "It might be a good idea to give it a second energy pulse arm." She suggested.

"No, I have an idea for that spare arm, I'm looking at the current arm with the pulsar right now." Lloyd protested. "What we need is something to pull targets in, or find a way to make it work from a distance."

"Hm, what about a shockwave?" Rakshata proposed.

"Oh, explain." Lloyd replied.

"Well, it's pretty much what it sounds, instead of making it direct contact fire, make it into a shockwave that can catch more than one at a time." Rakshata explained.

"Oh, that's a good idea, let's try it." Lloyd said then made the note on the Guren's diagram.

"So which one next?"

"Lancelot," Lloyd said and pulled up it's diagram. "Of course, I'm looking at the master vibration swords here."

"Hm, that won't be easy."

"Actually, I've already got an idea for it."

"Oh, what's that?"

"To be honest, it's similar to the shockwave idea you just gave for the Guren. I was planning to make it able to give a burst of energy vibration to make a Shock Slash long-ranged attack."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"OK, then on to the Shen Hu!" Lloyd scream with happiness as he made the note on the diagram and switched to the Shen Hu.

"So, what are we looking at here?"

"We're looking at it's Electric Slash Harken."

"I see, what are you trying to do to it?"

"This is the one the has me baffled on what to do. I'm just not sure what to do with it."

"What about giving it some sort of charge zap, for when it raps around it's victim?"

"Oh, that's a good idea. In fact, I have just the idea for what to charge it with. A Hydron charge."

"Huh, channel the Hydron Cannon throw the Slash Harken, that's actually not a bad idea at all."

"OK, let's do it!" Lloyd shouts with joy, makes the note, and switches diagrams.

"So, that just leaves the Corneli MK."

"Indeed, and I already know what I'm doing with it."

"Oh, you do?"

"Yep, I'm going to take our enemies idea and put nanotechnology into the Slash Harkens of Corneli MK."

"That way, the Slash Harkens can move around and strike more enemies at once."

"Exactly," Lloyd said and made the note.

"Well, that's that huh." Rakshata said, turning and walking away.

"Yep, we'll start the process tomorrow."


	10. The Ghetto Raid

_Chapter 10: The Ghetto Raid_

Infinite walked over to Bai, who had just finished making the upgrades on the KnightCrawlers he would take to raid the Ghetto's. He put his Geass control lenses on his eyes and turned to him.

"Everything is in order for your departure." Bai said as Infinite approached.

"Excellent work Bai. C.C., go announce that we will leave for the raid in an hour, I want everyone who's units were upgraded to come in as soon as possible to prepare." Infinite said.

"Right away," C.C. replied and walked away to do so.

"One more thing," Infinite began. "The four of us shall not participate in the raid, C.C. has already been told this."

"Won't participate, why not Lord Infinite?" Jeremiah asked.

"We won't go because we have the higher grade models. If a platoon of the Night Rider KnightCrawlers can match the army of Zero without many casualties if any at all, everyone will fear the Reverse Rebellion more than ever." Infinite explained. _And Suzaku will..._

"Understood, Lord Infinite." Bai said.

"Excellent, now go get some rest Bai, you need as much as you can get."

"Right," Bai agreed yawning and left.

When Bai had turned a corner and was out of earshot, Jeremiah spoke. "He is a helpful tool indeed Lord Lelouch."

"Yes, which is why we must keep him alive for as long as possible, We can't have him ending up like Rolo."

Suzaku sighed as he finished his lunch and looked over to his chess board. "I can't very well make the next move right now Lelouch. It's your turn, when are you making your move?" And as if to answer his question, just as he had put his mask back on, his T.V. screen flickered on and Infinite's mask appeared.

"Zero," He said.

"Infinite," Zero replied, with an appalled tone.

"I will make my next move at two fronts." Infinite declared.

"What, two fronts?"

"Shinjuku and Saitama Ghetto's are my targets."

"Uh, the Ghetto's?"

"Yes, prepare yourself, you have just under an hour." Infinite taunted then turned his communication off.

As soon as this happened Zero stormed out of his room and took an elevator down to the Knightmare hanger, then called up everyone he needed. Lloyd and Rakshata were there already, and with their combined efforts, along with the Chinese Federation's and Britannia's added resources, they had been able to mass produce the Energy Wings with quite a bit more ease and efficiency. All together, since Rakshata arrived and they obtained these resources, Zero's army now had a total of 250 Knightmares with the Energy Wings added to the four of them and the other.

"We will split evenly into two teams, Kallen, Cornelia, Xingke, you three will come with me in the first group, and the Knight Of Rounds will lead the second."

Other people going had already been assigned to one of the groups, and were now getting into their Knightmare Cockpits. While the rest got into their Knightmares, Zero conversed with Lloyd about the new equipment.

"You've completed all our upgrades correct?"

"Yes, but remember they are still experimental, so try not to over use them." Lloyd warned him.

"Of course," Zero assured him then went to get into his Lancelot.

"Everyone ready, then launch begins in three... two... one!" Lloyd announced and on that note the Knightmares charged up and flew out to the Ghetto's.

Zero's group was heading toward the Shinjuku Ghetto, the Knight of Rounds group were assigned to Saitama. The two groups there appropriate destinations in 15 minute, and were a good ten minutes ahead of Infinite's troop. Zero wanted the troops to take this time to spread out and cloak themselves, so when Infinite and his army did arrive, they would have the upper hand to start with.

To help with the power difference between the Knightmares and the KnightCrawlers, Zero had everyone only separate into 4 or 5 cell squads, rather than act completely independent. He, Kallen, Cornelia, and Xingke were together, and as such were the strongest squad on the field. after about 5 minutes, Infinite's troops came into view, and at once Zero and everyone could tell they were heavily outnumbered in manpower.

"Don't like what our odds are here Zero." Cornelia said.

"we're almost 2:1 in units." Kallen said, watching them on her radar.

"Do you really expect us to fight off _all_ of them?" Xingke asked.

"I was hoping a smaller number," Zero replied. "But if this works well, we should at least make a good shortage of KnightCrawlers on their side."

"Not that we even know where their getting all the equipment for them in the first place." Kallen argued.

"let's just give it our all." Zero said as the opposing troops got closer.

Suzaku examined the incoming troops, looking to try and find Infinite, trying to find Lelouch. But he didn't see the Gawain, he didn't see any of the copy KnightCrawlers in this approaching army at all actually. Not one of the black replica's were in this army approaching them.

It was strange, if not the Gawain, he at least expected to see one of the black replica's leading this force to take over the Ghetto, could they all really have gone to the other Ghetto?

"Here they come." Zero whispered as the enemy troops began to loom overhead.

"Hey, where is Zero's troops?" someone in one of the KnightCrawlers asked. "Do you think they were to scared to show up?"

"Don't be stupid, their probably using their cloaking, so keep you eyes pealed." Another responded."

"Begin operation in 3... 2... 1... Now!" Zero said, and pulled one of his vibration swords out and threw it at the opposing forces, striking through 5 before hitting the ground somewhere in the distance.

This was everyone's signal, practically all the Knightmares dropped their cloaking and began to swarm the enemy, making sure to stay in their groups. One of the KnightCrawlers fired a Hydron cannon in the direction the sword came from. But before it got to Zero, Xingke stepped between them and used the HyBreD to stop the beam, and the four of them also dropped their cloaking and the other three jumped into the air.

"Get behind me!" Kallen shouted and Zero and Cornelia did so without hesitation as she held up Guren's right arm. Kallen starts the energy pulsar then activates her new feature, creating a shockwave that threw the energy pulsar into a long range field and 10 KnightCrawlers were caught in it, along with the one that shot the Hydron cannon, and in seconds they were all destroyed.

Once the energy pulsar stopped, Cornelia swung around in front of Kallen as a platoon more KnightCrawlers came charging at them. "My turn." She said and her many Slash Harkens shot out and at the enemy, how they were still a ways away most of them were able to dodge, only 4 KnightCrawlers got struck by the attack, but they didn't expect what happened next, behind them the Slash Harken twisted around and turned back at them, striking through another 8 and catching the rest completely off guard. Almost as soon as they hit the other KnightCrawlers, they twisted in other directions, how this was a difficult procedure, Cornelia was working it well enough.

Xingke leaped up and fired his Slash Harkens and got them around a couple KnightCrawlers, then activated the Hydron charge, which completely destroyed them. "Yo, take a bite of this!" The four looked behind them and saw one of the KnightCrawlers holding a large gun, he shoot a spread of what look like electricity at the four of them. Xingke swung in front of them and span his Slash Harkens in circles and activated the Hydron charge to create a shield of the Hydron cannon, so when the electric spread hit it, it was easily beat back, but suddenly there was a drop in Xingke's energy pack power. Zero jumped above Xingke holding his second blade, swinging at the air, toward the Crawler, and a vibration slash came from it, cutting it in half.

"What was that? My power practically halved itself." Xingke wondered.

"I don't know what that was, but lets all be careful about it from now on." Zero told them, then something came up on his radio, Gino was calling him through a sound only radio chat.

"Zero," He said.

"Gino, what is it?" Zero asked.

"Things aren't looking too good over here, we're losing manpower too quickly. They have a new weapon that's making us drop like flies."

"What?" Zero yelled.

"It's some sort of electric shoot that zaps our energy packs, we take a few of those things our Knightmares are done for." As Gino told him this Zero and the others looked around and realized just how much their numbers had dropped compared to Infinite's.

They were almost outnumbered 3:1 now, although they were able to decently hold Infinite's troop off, the enemy had done more damage to them. And with each troop Infinite's side defeated, it just gave more trouble to their side. Zero wasn't going to let Infinite take all the cards here.

"Gino, order all troops to the Shinjuku Ghetto, at this rate, we can't save both Ghetto's, but we can at least hold him off at one."

It took a moment, but Gino finally responded, "Alright," and the radio connection cut off, Suzaku could only hope he was making the right choice.

"As for us," Zero said. "We are going to split up and warn the others to avoid the electric zappers then help them out."

"Got it," The other three agreed and they all scattered.


	11. Comeback, Nunnaly Wants to What Now!

_Chapter 11: Comeback, Nunnally Wants to What Now?_

"Gino, order all troops to the Shinjuku Ghetto, at this rate, we can't save both Ghetto's, but we can at least hold him off at one."

It took a moment, but Gino finally responded, "Alright," and the radio connection cut off, Suzaku could only hope he was making the right choice.

"As for us," Zero said. "We are going to split up and warn the others to avoid the electric zappers then help them out."

"Got it," The other three agreed and they all scattered.

Zero went for the closest group and destroyed the last Crawler the 3 left were fighting by slashing it in half. "If they bring out a gun and fire what looks like electricity, dodge it, don't block it, now spread out and tell the others."

Kallen went for a group of two left, against two Crawlers, then grabbed one with her energy pulsar arm, destroying it, and leaving an opening on the second, which one of the others struck down. She told them about the electric guns then they scattered.

Xingke and Cornelia did the same with other groups, and not only would they be able to lower the risk of someone getting hit by this energy zapper, it looked like having the Knightmares scatter was confusing the Crawlers, not having expected such a drastic change in their strategy. What's more, Gino's troops arrived, which gave them better than good chances of winning. The comeback was starting.

It only took a few minutes in fact, for Infinite's troops to realize they could no longer win without regrouping first, so one of them sounded a retreat, and the KnightCrawlers fled the Ghetto. Zero and Gino landed their Knightmares and climbed out of their cockpits to report.

"Should we head back to the Saitama Ghetto Zero?" Gino asked.

"No, it's possible those KnightCrawlers are heading there now." Zero replied.

"If we do, we might just be back at square one, it's a better idea to just cut our losses with saving Shinjuku. What's more, were Infinite and the other reverse KnightCrawlers at Saitama?" Zero still wondered why he had seen none.

"No, when I saw they weren't here either, I was really shocked, Why didn't they show up to battle?" Gino answered, this was what Zero was afraid of.

"It's to show us the true difference in our capabilities and power. The KnightCrawlers we faced are as good as any ninth generation Knightmare, and they have plenty of them to spare, which makes the Anti-KnightCrawlers even stronger than that, pretty much a tenth generation. We can barely handle a few hundred of those KnightCrawlers, if Infinite and the other ones showed, up, we wouldn't stand a chance." Zero told him. "This isn't an average war, it's literally become a battle of upgrades."

"It's just who can make more, and how fast can they be made." Gino finished the thought.

"Zero," Anya said as she landed her Knightmare and climbed out of her cockpit. "I just received a radio transmission from Lloyd and Rakshata, They say it concerns Nunnally Vi Britannia." She told him.

"Involving her, very well, let's go back." Zero told them.

"What about the other troops?" Gino asked.

"We'll leave them here for the day, Infinite's troops may come back." Zero answered.

The troops from Shinjuku returned and reported to Infinite. "That's alright, I suspected we would only take one of the Ghetto's in the raid." Infinite told the man who made the report. "Everything is going as planned, everything will work out. You are dismissed." Infinite told the man as he got up and left.

"I must say Lelouch, every battle you go through, the more I question if your plan is really going to work." C.C. commented.

"It will work out, every battle I win merely brings me one step closer to my goal. I need to drive Suzaku to the limit, otherwise my plan falls apart."

"Do you really believe it is possible for him to destroy your code?" Jeremiah asked.

"Yes, and once I die, once and for all, the Geass legacy will finally seize to exist."

Zero, Cornelia and the others arrived back at the Knightmare hanger, then approached Lloyd and Rakshata. "What was it you wanted to talk about, something concerning Nunnally?" Zero asked, but he didn't like the expressions on their faces.

"Well," Rakshata began. "It's best for her to tell you herself." Nunnally then came up in her wheelchair from behind the two.

Zero didn't like this at all, Lloyd's and Rakshata's disturbed faces told him it was bad business. But when he combined that with the look on Nunnally's face, one of determination, all he could think of was the worst case scenario.

"I want to join the fight against Infinite." She told them, not beating around the bush at all, completely shocking everyone.

"You want to what?" Both Zero and Cornelia blurted out at the same time as a response, but all Nunnally did was make her face look even more determined.

"I want to fight, I don't care about the dangers, It concerns my nation too. Besides, my sister is also fighting, I can't just sit by and watch you all get hurt."

"But Nunnally," Cornelia started, but actually didn't have anything to fallow up with.

"I understand you don't want me in harms way big sister, but it's not like I don't feel any different about you." Nunnally said, making Cornelia completely speechless.

It was possible Nunnally was more determined to participate because she knew it was Lelouch on the other side. As a matter of fact it was almost certain it did. Zero straitened himself, and everyone's eyes turned to him.

"You know what this means right?" It was Suzaku asking the question, not Zero, and Nunnally could tell.

"Absolutely," She replied, not wavering once in her words or expression. If she could say so with such air-tight certainty, he wasn't going to give any objections, but the final decision still truly remained to Cornelia, whom all eyes now fell on.

This really was a shock to Cornelia, probably more to her than anyone else in the room, no one had expected Nunnally to pilot a Knightmare. To be honest it didn't seem to fit her character. but in the same line of thinking as Zero, she understood that if she was this determined, there was no real reason in saying no. She straitened herself, and unable to drop her grim expression about the matter, slowly nodded her head in a final agreement, she only hoped she wouldn't grow to regret it.

"Lloyd, Rakshata, get started immediately!" Zero ordered.

"One step ahead of you there Zero." Rakshata said, as she and Lloyd had actually foreseen this and started on Nunnally's personal Knightmare beforehand.

"Good, Infinite will be in for a surprise next time." Although everyone else thought so too, none of them actually understood why he would be. Suzaku was really talking about Lelouch, who would never risk getting Nunnally hurt.

"I promise," Nunnally started. "I won't let you down."


	12. Nunnally's Knightmare

_Chapter 12: Nunnally's Knightmare_

"It has been a week since Infinite took over the Saitama Ghetto," Milly said on the news channel. "And Knightmares remain posted at the Shinjuku Ghetto. The Babel Tower is still under Infinite's control, many people are asking just what Infinite's plan is, during the last press conference, Zero said it was classified, and would not be released to the public yet." She stated and Suzaku turned the T.V. off.

He was alone in his room and was staring at his chess board, which he was using to show how well he was at the moment against Lelouch. It was a close running right now, but it seemed Lelouch was in the lead right now. He was thinking of whether or not to wait on Lelouch's next move, or make a move of his own, just then someone knocked on the door.

Suzaku put Zero's mask back on. "Come in," He said, and the person who entered was Nunnally. "Oh, Nunnally." Suzaku said, taking the mask back off as the door closed. "What is it?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing." Nunnally replied.

"I'm fine, I just wish I knew what Lelouch was planning."

"I do too, it's part of the reason I insisted on joining. I was hoping to find a way to somehow communicate with him."

"I understand Nunnally, but despite Lelouch's plans may be, war is war, we can't play this by our hearts."

"I know," Nunnally said, then a radio transmission came up from Lloyd.

"Excuse me, are you in there Zero?"

"Yes, what is it?" Suzaku replied as Zero.

"Nunnally Vi Britannia's Knightmare has been completed, we wanted everyone to come down to see it."

"Understood, Miss Nunnally is here with me at the moment, we will be right down." Suzaku said putting his mask back on and the transmission ends. Zero stood up and was about to leave with Nunnally but then another transmission came up on the screen, and Infinite appeared. "Infinite," Zero growled.

"Yes Zero, it is I. Lady Nunnally, I see you are here again. But why do you still not join me?" Infinite asked, Lelouch was still hoping to convince them for a while he was not Infinite. All Nunnally did was stare at Infinite.

"I assume you are going to tell me your next target." Zero said.

"True, I believe it is time I re-capture the Ashford Academy, and I propose a small scale battle for it. our best five fighters against each other."

"And what makes you think I would agree to something like that?"

"Something just tells me your that kind of sport, I depart Immediately, I suggest you do the same." Infinite said and ended his transmission.

"Let's go," Zero said and the two got to the closest elevator and went down to the Knightmare hanger.

"We have a new challenge from Infinite, he's going to try and take over the academy again." He saw Gino, Anya, and Nonette behind Cornelia, then Xingke and Kallen were beside them waiting to see Nunnally's Knightmare.

"Really," Cornelia started. How many troops should be mobilized?"

"He has proposed a small scale battle, 5 on 5, because he knows a large scale battle will destroy it, neither of us want that. Cornelia, you and I will go with Kallen and Xingke. Nunnally, it's time for your entrance to this war, once you get the hang of the controls, come and give us back-up."

"Right," Nunnally said and Lloyd and Rakshata started to take her to her own personal Knightmare.

Kallen, Xingke, Cornelia and Zero all climbed into their Knightmares and took off at once. It only took a matter of minute for the four of them to reach Ashford, once they arrived, they merely waited for Infinite to show up. After only two minute the group saw 5 KnightCrawlers approaching. The Gawain, Nerug, Deirfgeis, and Tolecnal, along with a new KnightCrawler they had not seen before. It was large, unlike the other model they assumed everyone in the Reverse Rebellion but the anti-Crawlers used, and appeared to have small cannons on each wrist. it had 3 feathered energy wings with a deep blue color to it. It was black, just like all KnightCrawlers in the Reverse Rebellion were, and then had a sword and gun on it's waist.

"I said five, why do I only see four?" Infinite asked as they approached.

"Our fifth will be here momentarily." Zero replied. "But I don't assume your actually going to wait for them to arrive before we start."

"True, just remember that it is their fault when you lose." Infinite told him.

"Enough talk then." Zero said.

Both sides charged, except for the fifth Crawler on Infinite's side. Zero and Infinite clashed, Kallen went to battle with the Nerug, Xingke fought the Tolecnal, and Cornelia went up against Jeremiah in his Deirfgeis.

"What's up with your fifth? I thought you weren't going to wait." Zero said to Infinite.

"The less power used in this fight the better, if he doesn't have to fight, he won't." Infinite replied as he backed up and shoot his finger Slash Harken at Zero, who dodged then struck at him with his blade, but missed.

"You say your loyalty is to the royal household," Cornelia spoke to Jeremiah. "Then why do you fight us?"

"My one true loyalty was always to Lord Lelouch. If Infinite fights in his name, and I serve him, I am only doing what Lord Lelouch wants." Jeremiah responded then span his machine and charged at Cornelia. She got out of the way just in time then launched her Slash Harken at it but they would only bounce off while Jeremiah was spinning.

"This second rate imitation of my Knightmare won't do you any good." Kallen shouted and thrust her Guren's right arm at the Nerug, which ducked then thrust its own right arm up at Kallen, but was unsuccessful in making contact.

"I may not know who you are, but I will not lose to you." Xingke told the pilot of the Tolecnal before spinning one of its Slash Harkens at it, but it used a shield to block. It then pulled out it's blade and jabbed toward the Shun Hu, but Xingke used his second Slash Harken to rap around the blade then throw him off course.

"We will never let you win this war Infinite." Zero declared.

"This was never a battle, I have already won, and you have already lost." Infinite replied, then shoot his Hydron cannon at Zero. Suzaku was about to use the HyBreD to stop it, but then the Geass Lelouch put on him to "live on" activated, and told him to dodge the blast, and under its power, he avoided the beam.

He looked back at the beam, still expecting it to twist back at him, but it didn't, instead it simply went on to hit the ground, and he realized that the beam didn't have any nano-technology inside it this time. Then everyone heard something approaching at a tremendous speed. The next second a new Knightmare appeared on the battlefield. If you had blinked you would have literally missed it come in.

"What is that?" Infinite howled at the sight. This new model was sleek and slim, and was an untainted shining silver in color. Looking at its energy wings, also silver, anyone would understand how it was so fast getting here, because most energy wings only had three feathers on them, but this model had a total of five. "Is _that_ your fifth?" Infinite inquired.

"Indeed I am," The pilot answered, and Lelouch almost gagged when he heard the voice. "The first ever 10th Generation Knightmare, this is the Guinevere."

Trying to remain calm, Lelouch asked as Infinite. "And who might I ask, is the pilot of this Knightmare?"

"Infinite, as I stood against my brother one year ago, in his plot, I will do the same here against you. It is I, Nunnally Vi Britannia who pilots the Guinevere." Nunnally replied, and at hearing this, Lelouch practically let go of his controls. Jeremiah and C.C. were also shocked to hear this news. "I can no longer remain on the sidelines while the people I love risk their lives to stop you."

"I see, well then, fall before the power of our newest weapon, the Utsuri." Infinite said, and the fifth KnightCrawler pointed his wrist cannons at Nunnally's Knightmare and started to charge Hydron beams, but before he ever had the chance to try out the weapon, Nunnally swept forward in her Knightmare and kicked the two cannons, and they both completely snapped off, then her kick continued to knock back the Utsuri.

Infinite was instantly shocked at the speed and power of the Guinevere , even though it wasn't even using a weapon. Nunnally flew at the Utsuri and punched it so that it turned around, then ripped off it's energy wings using nothing but the hands of her Knightmare, then made a drop kick on it, and with such force that when it hit the ground, it completely stopped functioning. Infinite and the others all knew instantly that they were completely outmatched, it hadn't even needed to use its weapons to do that, there was no telling what it could do to them.

"Retreat!" Infinite screamed, and the four Anti-KnightCrawlers turned and flew away. Finally, they were pulling into the lead in this war.

The five of them flew back to the Knightmare hanger, and Lloyd congratulated his and Rakshata's new creation for doing so much better than they hoped. while Zero, Cornelia, Xingke, and Kallen climbed out of their Knightmares, Nunnally need a machine to lift her and her wheelchair out of the Knightmare and set her on the ground.

Everyone praised Nunnally for how well she had handle the Knightmare for someone who had never been in one before.

"I must say, I can't believe you didn't have to use any of it's weapons to take down the KnightCrawler." Zero commented, looking up at the Guinevere.

"Actually, it doesn't have any weapons." Rakshata told him, which completely surprised everyone.

"We almost completely disregarded weaponry to make the Guinevere the fastest Knightmare model ever." Rakshata explained.

"By upgrading the Energy wings and giving it almost nothing to weigh it down, it can fly faster than maybe some people can fallow. The only weapon it has at all is a single wrist blade. Marvelous, no?"

"Incredible," Cornelia said, and everyone else was thinking along the same lines.

This was truly the greatest Knightmare ever created.


	13. The Power of the Utsuri

_Chapter 13: The Power of the Utsuri_

Zero called Kallen, Nunnally, Cornelia, Xingke, and the Knights of Round: Gino, Anya, and Nonette. He went through the plan to take back the Saitama Ghetto, with Nunnally's Guinevere, they should be able to pull it off. They would split up into four groups of 2 and come in at different ends of the Ghetto. Kallen and himself with come from the north side, Gino and Anya would enter at the west end, while Xingke and Nonette came from the east, leaving the south to Cornelia and Nunnally. When all of them got into position, using the radars, they could tell that there were only about 100 KnightCrawlers here to guard the Ghetto.

"Ready everyone?" Zero asked through the radio.

"Roger," Kallen replied.

"Anytime," Gino said.

"Ready," Anya said.

"All set," Xingke said.

"Whenever your ready," Nonette said.

"I'm in position," Cornelia said.

"I'm prepared," Nunnally said.

"Then let the operation begin." Zero told them and they all charged in, catching some people off guard as they entered.

Zero used his sword to destroy one of the KnightCrawlers, then made a vibration wave to destroy 2 more in the distance. Kallen destroyed one with her pulsar arm, then flew forward with Zero. The KnightCrawlers were operating in small groups, making it harder to take them out, and then the KnightCrawlers were close in strength to their 9th generation Knightmares, so taking them out was already no easy task.

"Oh, lucky me, I got Zero to fight here, along with Kallen, the 'Ace of the Black Knight.'" A voice came from behind, and Kallen and Zero turned to see and Utsuri behind them.

Gino and Anya charged through, their improved Knightmares easily destroying and avoiding the enemy KnightCrawlers. With Gino's fortress mode, he could slip strait passed enemies, then take them out from behind before they could react, His MVS were also given the same upgrade as Zero's, so he could take out more faster. Anya's Knightmare was able to use it's Stark Hydron Cannons to take out any enemies in front of her, and her missiles now had a homing system, and were made to be faster than the enemies energy wings, so it was extremely difficult to dodge, and made it easy to take out large numbers at once.

"I thought Zero said these KnightCrawlers were as good as any 9th generation Knightmare, what gives?" Gino wondered, taking the Crawlers out in general ease.

"Their all inexperienced, most of them never piloted a Knightmare until joining with Infinite." Anya answered.

"I guess that makes sense, most Britannians who can pilot Knightmares worked for the empire, and wouldn't ever think about betraying them."

"Most," A voice came. "But not all." Anya and Gino looked at where the voice came, and saw two KnightCrawlers that looked different from the others. These Crawlers looked more like what Zero described Infinite's fifth being at the fight for the Academy.

"We are the advanced troops that did betray the Britannian Empire and have experience piloting Knightmares." The second man said. "Prepare to be disassembled by our Utsuri's."

Xingke and Nonette drove through with general ease, their Knightmares making a good team. With Xingke's Electronic Slash Harken, he could strike through most of the KnightCrawlers or smash them into each other without even stopping. Then Nonette's Knightmare, the Lionel, had a Hydron cannon in both of its palms, not only giving it power, but since they are in the hands, she could move the blasts around fluently without turning the whole Knightmare.

"Keep moving, don't give an inch." Xingke told Nonette.

"Right, this sure is easy though." Nonette replied.

"No matter how tough the KnightCrawler is, it's almost useless without a good pilot." Xingke said.

"Especially when it comes to us when we have a lot of experience with our Knightmares." Nonette added.

"Too easy is it? Then allow us to provide you with a challenge." A voice came from above.

Xingke and Nonette didn't stop until they looked upward at one of the Utsuri's Nunnally defeated with her Genevieve, at which they halted.

"I take it you are one of the advanced troop, to be given a special KnightCrawler." Nonette guessed.

"That is correct. We who pilot an Utsuri are those of us that abandoned the Britannian empire to join forces with Infinite. Now come, let me show you my power."

"Lloyd and Rakshata really outdid themselves making your Knightmare Nunnally." Cornelia said as they just flew through, wiping out the KnightCrawlers almost as soon as they appeared.

"Well, they understood everyone's concern for my safety, so they wanted to make certain you didn't have anything to worry about." Nunnally replied.

"Just don't get too laid back Nunnally, anything can happen on the battlefield."

"How true!" Someone suddenly said from above. Nunnally and Cornelia looked up at a pair of Utsuri's.

"Don't be too happy about that victory you pulled against me last time Nunnally Vi Britannia, I was just taken by surprise." The pilot of the Utsuri said, the same pilot that was the fifth participate of Infinite's side in the battle for the Academy.

"Empress Cornelia, we will not ask for you to forgive us." The second pilot said.

"What?" Cornelia was surprised by these words.

"Don't tell me word never reached you. There were a large number of betrayers in your army, those that left to join with Infinite."

"What was that, betrayers among my own troops?" Cornelia couldn't believe it.

"Many of us never wished to be rid of Emperor Lelouch. When you took over after his death, we merely went along with it, some secretly plotting against you, but before that, Infinite appeared to us, and we wanted to join him out of our loyalty to Emperor Lelouch."

"Now it is time for you to die, Empress Cornelia." The first pilot said, then charged.

"An Utsuri, there are more of them?" Kallen asked.

"Of course there are more, there are plenty more, and you will find us much harder than those second-rate pilots." The man in the Utsuri replied.

"Still, we won't lose." Zero said, flying toward him and swinging his Vibration Blade at him, and the Utsuri caught the blade between its hands.

Then the small cannons on the Utsuri's wrist began to charge. "Say good-bye Zero." The man said.

"Forgetting someone?" Kallen said, coming up from the side, and making to grab him with her right arm, but he then flew backward.

"Just as I predicted you'd do." The man said, and fired his cannons.

Zero and Kallen just barely managed to get out of the way. What came from the cannons were indeed Hydron blasts, but rather than a beam, they were like bullets, smaller and less powerful, but for sure much faster. And that wasn't all, it was multiple fire, he didn't just shoot single Hydron Bullets from each one, he shot one after another, and with their speed, they were becoming hard to dodge.

Zero and Kallen had to be going at top speeds just to keep from getting hit by the bullets, so they didn't even have room to try and attack. The bullets seemed to be endless, not giving even a second for them to do anything but dodge.

"Kallen, use the cloaking systems!" Zero shouted as he used his own, vanishing before their eyes. Kallen used hers right after, and after a moment, the Utsuri ceased fire.

A moment past and nothing happened, but then the pilot of the Utsuri snickered. "Fools," He said, turning and firing at what seemed to be empty space, but Kallen and Zero uncloaked themselves in order to use their energy wings and dodge.

"What, how did he know where we were?" Kallen wondered.

"I don't know, but let's not give him time to fire again." Zero said, pulling out his Master Vibration Sword and flying at the Utsuri. He swung his blade, but the Utsuri dodged back. "Take this!" Zero shouted, swing the sword again, and making a vibration pulse go toward the Utsuri.

The Utsuri put its arms up to defend. The pulse struck it back a bit, but didn't do much in the way of damage. Then Kallen came up behind it, ready to hit it with it's energy pulsar, but before she hit it, it flew to the side.

"It appears I will need more than this regular Hydron to catch you two." The pilot of the Utsuri said, pulling out the sword it held on its waist.

"Is that a Master Vibration Sword?" Zero guessed by its look.

"Close, but no," The pilot of the Utsuri replied, stabbing the blade forward, and it shot off like a Slash Harken, surprising Zero, and managing to scratch a hole in the Lancelot's armor. The Utsuri then wiped the hilt it held and made the blade swing around and strike Kallen, also just scratching it.

"It's like a combination of the Master Vibration Sword and a Slash Harken." Kallen stated.

"What's more, it was able to cut through our armor." Zero added.

"Do you like it?" The pilot of the Utsuri asked. "This is the power of the Utsuri!"


	14. A Trap

_Chapter 14: A Trap_

Zero's force now faced Infinite's strongest followers, those who had betrayed the Britannian Empire and had experience piloting Knightmares. These troops were given KnightCrawlers much stronger than the others, these KnightCrawler's were called Utsuri, and they were quite formidable indeed. Although the Guinevere had defeated one in an instant, they had not seen what these new creations were actually capable of, but now they had gotten a taste of their strength, and it was incredible.

Kallen and Zero were fighting a lone Utsuri together, and they were still having trouble with it, its Hydron Bullets made it difficult to get close to, and it was somehow able to tell where they were even if they were using their cloaking technologies.

"Well, what do you think of the Utsuri?" The pilot asked Zero and Kallen.

"Impressive I must admit, but as I've already said, we won't lose." Zero replied, taking out his Master Vibration Sword.

"Strong words, but are your Knightmares as strong as they are?" The Utsuri pilot asked and swung his M.V. Harken, the blade springing for Zero.

Zero blocked the attack with his own sword, then knocked it back, and as the Utsuri was retracting the blade, Zero flew in and tried to stab it, but the Utsuri was able to dodge it just barely, then swing the retracted sword at him. But then Kallen flew between them and stopped the sword with her perfect barrier, knocking her back.

Then Zero took his chance and flew back to a safe distance, then his energy wings began glowing. "Try this on for size; De-Charge!" Zero said as shots of electric energy shot out from the Lancelot's energy wings in a falling rain onto the Utsuri.

The Utsuri tried desperately to dodge all of the falling projectiles, but was unable to keep up and one of them hit his KnightCrawler right in the chest, and suddenly the Utsuri stopped working, and feel to the ground with a crash.

"Impossible!" The Utsuri's pilot couldn't believe what just happened.

"Kallen, his energy pack!" Zero shouted.

"Right," Kallen said, ripping the energy pack off the Utsuri before it could turn back on.

"I can't believe there were people within the army that actually supported Lelouch." Gino said as he and Anya fought with a pair of Utsuri's.

"Who they used to work for isn't important." Anya told Gino. "They are now just pawns of Infinite, and our enemies."

"Well said, Anya of the Knights of Round, but we are not pawns." One pilot corrected Anya.

"Those second rate pilots you defeating coming here were the pawns, but we who pilot an Utsuri are Infinite's Knights!" The second pilot declared proudly.

"Either way your going down; Anya!" Gino said.

"Right," Anya said, and fired dozens of mini-missiles at the Utsuri's from a distance.

"Oh please," The first Utsuri pilot said as he and his comrade charged and fired their Hydron Bullet Cannons at each missile as they came close, none of them being able to reach them.

"Do not take us lightly just because you are Knights of Round." The second pilot warned them.

"Anya," Gino said over an intercom so their opponents wouldn't hear. "I'll draw their attention in fortress mode, when you get a chance shoot them down with your Stark Hydron Cannon."

"Got it." Anya replied, and Gino changed into fortress mode, and flew past the Utsuri's.

"Wait, it's a trap, I'll take Gino Weinberg, you handle Anya Alstreim." The first pilot said, and flew off for Gino.

"Tch, they saw through my plan. Well then I guess I've got to go with plan B." Gino said, changing back to Knightmare form, then took out his MVS's and slashed toward the approaching Utsuri, sending a pair of shockwaves for, him, but he dodged them easily. The Utsuri then took out its sword and the two of them started a sword fight.

The Utsuri fighting Anya pulled out his MV Harken and shot it at her, but she was able to get out of the way just in time, then fired her Stark Hydron Cannons at him.

"I don't think so." The Utsuri pilot said, and used what looked like their own Perfect Barrier, but even when it was hit with the Hydron cannon, it wasn't struck back.

"You copied out Perfect Barrier?" Anya asked.

"Wrong, we have improved your Perfect Barrier." The pilot said. "It is now the Perfected Barrier.

"You people won't have your way!" Xingke told the Utsuri's pilot as he threw his Electronic Slash Harken toward it, but it flew up then at them, pulling its MV Harken.

"You don't have a choice in the matter!" The Utsuri pilot said as he stabbed at Xingke.

Nonette used one of her Slash Harkens to deflect the blade and other to knock the Utsuri itself to the side, then pointed her Hydron Cannons at him, and began charging. "Yes we do, and I won't forgive anyone who betrays Britannia." She told the Utsuri's pilot, and fired her Hydron Cannons at him.

The Utsuri flew to the side and out of the way as quickly as it could and charged then fired its Hydron Bullets at Nonette, who used her Perfect Barrier to block them, but was hit back into a building, at which point he turned to Xingke and fired more Hydron Bullets at him. Xingke then began spinning his Electrical Slash Harken and added the Hydron Zapper so the Hydron Bullets couldn't get past them.

"You can't keep that up forever." The Utsuri pilot told Xingke.

"He doesn't need to." Nonette said as she flew up behind the Utsuri by surprise, catching the pilot off guard and she rapped her Slash Harken around its arms and pull them back so they were facing the sides. "Now Xingke!" Nonette shouted.

"Right!" Xingke said as he flew closer to the Utsuri and rapped his Electronic Slash Harken around the Utsuri's arms and activated his Hydron Zapper to destroy both arms, making the Utsuri nearly useless.

"Take this you traitors!" Cornelia shouted as she sent her Slash Harkens out at the two Utsuri's, who spun out of the way to avoid them all. "Not yet," She said as she activated their nano-technology to make them bend back toward them again, but then the two Utsuri's pulled out their swords and deflected the Harkens.

"Hey, forgetting someone?" Nunnally called out from behind the two Utsuri's.

"You handle the Empress!" One pilot ordered. "I've got a favor to return the Princess here." He said, and flew at full speed for Nunnally.

Once they neared each other, Nunnally spun and made to kick the Utsuri, but expecting that, the Utsuri put up its Perfected Barrier to block it, also getting Nunnally off guard for a moment, in which time he dropped his barrier and punched Nunnally away, then swung his MV Harken at her, but she was able to block it with her wrist blade, then begin to charge back at the Utsuri.

"Don't come any closer!" The pilot shouted as he pointed on of his Hydron Bullet launchers at Nunnally and fired, which made Nunnally have to fly to the side and dodge.

Then the Utsuri charged at Nunnally and slashed her with his sword, but she held his attack back with her wrist blade. "Why would you do this? Why did you betray your country?" Nunnally asked the Utsuri pilot.

"I am not betraying my country, I am remaining loyal to it." The pilot replied.

"What?" Nunnally asked.

"Even before Lelouch took the throne, Britannia's goal had been to rule the world. Then when Lelouch took the throne, all of you in the royal family seemed to completely alter your way of thinking, wishing for peace in the world rather than to rule it. We who now work for Infinite realized that you in the Royal family were merely being weak!" The pilot told Nunnally with anger as he pushed her back. "We'll reawaken the dream of ruling the world with Infinite! And if you stand in our way, I won't show you any mercy!" He shouted as he pointed his Hydron Bullet launchers at her, and began charging.

"You called us of the royal family weak? But really, it is you who is weak." Nunnally told the Utsuri's pilot.

"How so?"

"When my brother took the throne, he had no intention of sharing his rule with anyone of Britannia, not even the other royal family members. While we of the royal family were in such a state of helplessness, we simply realized what we had been doing to the rest of the world all those years. You call us weak for deciding to change our view for world peace; but really, those that wish to rule the world are the weak one who are two afraid of being suppressed by the world themselves." Nunnally explained, which only enraged the Utsuri's pilot.

"How dare you call me weak! Die, Nunnally Vi Britannia!" He screamed as he shot Hydron Bullet as fast as he could.

But then Nunnally flew overhead of the Utsuri until it got behind it, then flew in at it and kicked it into the ground just like at the Academy, and it stopped operating all together.

"Well it looks like your partner has been finished off." Cornelia told her opponent, yet all the pilot did was laugh. "What's so funny?"

"Just that you think I should care about something like that." The pilot replied.

"Well it should, because that means this Ghetto is as good as ours again." Cornelia told him, but he just laughed more.

"You have misunderstood the entire point of us coming here was to make you retreat on our own." The pilot said, confusing both Cornelia and Nunnally.

"What do you mean your purpose wasn't to beat us?" Kallen asked the defeated Utsuri pilot, as he was telling her and Zero the same thing the other pilot was telling Cornelia and Nunnally.

"It's quite simple, we were sent here with the knowledge you would try to take this Ghetto back after your victory at the Academy to stall you."

"What do you mean you've just been stalling us?" Gino asked his and Anya's opponent.

"You should be able to see it on your radars any minute now." One of the Utsuri pilots fighting with them said.

"Our radars?" Anya questioned.

"Wh-what is this!" Nonette asked herself as she saw a horde of KnightCrawlers heading for them, and to make matters worse, Infinite was leading the charge.

"Attention forces of Zero!" Infinite's voice called out. "With the knowledge you would all come here, I sent my greatest troops here to stall you while we took control of the Shinjuku Ghetto." He told them all, and they were all shocked.

"Zero, what do we do?" Kallen asked in a fret.

"There's nothing we can do..." Zero said, even more shocked then anyone else. "...Everyone, retreat." He ordered, and all of them fled the Saitama Ghetto, heading back for the Knightmare hanger.


	15. Upgrades 3

_Chapter 15: Upgrades 3_

"...And with Infinite's new Utsuri KnightCrawlers, we're really going to need you two to pull out all the stop's here." Zero told Lloyd and Rakshata. "We're really counting on you two."

"Got it, Zero." Rakshata replied.

"We'll make sure to give the Knightmares some really fun gadgets, so just leave everything to us!" Lloyd exclaimed joyfully.

"Right, please get to it then." Zero said as he left the Knightmare Hanger.

"So then, let's get started." Rakshata told Lloyd.

"Right," Lloyd replied and the two started looking at the Knightmare diagrams. "So where should we start?" He wondered.

"You said before that you had an idea of something to do with the Guren's second arm, what did you plan to do?" Rakshata noted.

"Ah yes, well the problem with that is that I'm still waiting for some of the materials I need for it to come in, so I can't actually do anything about it just yet." Lloyd explained.

"I see, but you could still tell me what your idea is couldn't you?" Rakshata asked

"No, I want it to be a surprise." Lloyd said.

"Huh, come on, tell me!" Rakshata begged.

"I won't." Lloyd declined.

"Pudding Earl," Rakshata muttered.

"Anyways," Lloyd began, ignoring Rakshata's comment. "For right now I think the best thing to do is give the Guren a little more offensive capability. other than the Hydron Cannon and it's pulsar arm, it doesn't have much to go on."

"Yes, I suppose that's true, so what are you thinking?"

"I think what would work best is giving it something to give it some more head-on advantage."

"Maybe a Master Vibration Sword?" Rakshata suggested.

"No, I'm thinking of giving it something different." Lloyd said. "Something our enemy wouldn't be expecting."

Just as Lloyd said this, Rakshata snapped her fingers. "I might have an idea." She said and zoomed the diagram in on the Guren's pulsar arm. "Maybe we could add a miniature weapon embedded in the Guren's fingertips. if we do something like that, while an opponent is trying avoid the arm because of the Energy Pulsar, it won't be expecting a second weapon ready to attack it when it does so."

"Brilliant, that would work splendidly!" Lloyd agreed with the proposal immediately. "So what kind of weapon should we hide?"

"I'm thinking along the lines of a thin cutting laser beam." Rakshata answered.

"Wonderful, let's move along then." Lloyd said, moving to the Lancelot's diagram. "Once again I have an idea to improve the Lancelot's Master Vibration Sword. In this case I have an idea to make it much stronger. I call it the Vibration Broadsword.

"What I'm thinking is to max out the energy input on the sword so that the energy itself turns into a large blade shaped mesh of energy, making it much larger and stronger, but virtually adding no weight to it so it's not any more difficult to use."

"That's pretty smart, well then let's go on to the next one." Rakshata said and they started looking at the Shen Hu. "Any idea's here Pudding Earl?" Rakshata asked.

"Hm, actually yes." Lloyd replied. "It has to do with the Electric Slash Harken. We gave it a Hydron Charge, so what I'm thinking is a way to maximize that charge's use."

"Oh?"

"I'm thinking of attaching small blades to the ends of the Harkens, allowing them to slice through the KnightCrawlers easily, then changing their function a bit so they work more like whips, giving the Shen Hu more control over their overall accuracy." Lloyd explained.

"That's a great idea." Rakshata couldn't help but be impressed by Lloyd's idea.

"Thank you, on to the Corneli MK." Lloyd said, bringing up it's diagram.

"If you ask me, the Corneli MK has the same problem as the Guren; not enough offensive capabilities." Rakshata said.

"So what do you suggest?" Lloyd asked.

"I'm thinking along the same lines as the Guren, give the Slash Harken on it a secondary attack option in case the opponent dodges the first; in fact, I think I have the perfect idea. Since we gave the Corneli's Slash Harken the bend-fire function, we could put in a sort of electric fence function, where once the 8 Harken surround an opponent, she could trap them in the electric fence, and destroy them."

"I like it, I like it!" Lloyd agreed "That just leaves the Guinevere!" Lloyd sang as he brought up it's diagram.

"I still think we should give it more than the one wrist blade, at least some defensive tech like a Hydron shield." Rakshata argued.

"Yes, I suppose that would be safest, although I'm still against putting too much additional weight on the Guinevere, the more tech you stuff it with, the heavier it will get, and the slower it will be able to travel." Lloyd explained. "And speed truely is one of our greatest weapon overall."

"If you're afraid of putting on weight, then why not do something similar to what we're doing with the Lancelot." Rakshata suggested, and Lloyd gave an expression like a light bulb going off in his head. "You said yourself that the Vibration Broadsword would put on virtually no weight, and it would still become stronger."

"Of course!" Lloyd leaped for joy at Rakshata's proposal. "That's a brilliant suggestion, I can't believe I didn't think of that before. Leeeeeeeeet's do it!" Lloyd yelled with over-exaggeration, almost making Rakshata regret she thought of the idea.

"I must say Bai, the Utsuri's turned out wonderfully." Infinite told Bai while they were conversing alone.

"Thank you Infinite, it's always a pleasure to serve. Now if I may ask, what is it you wanted to see me privately for?" Bai asked, as Infinite had asked to see Bai with no one else around.

"Yes, let's get right to that then." Infinite said. "I need you to work on a secret project for my KnightCrawler." Infinite said, and Bai seemed to get quite interested. "At this point in the war, our enemy is starting to get stronger and stronger. I need a last resort weapon to ensure victory if things get too hard."

"No one else knows about this?" Bai asked.

"No, it is essential no one else finds out about this." Infinite replied.

"Even C.C. and Jeremiah?" Bai questioned, sounding almost hesitant.

"Yes, even they know nothing about this plan, a radical measure perhaps, but it is necessary."

"I see, so what is it you want me to do?"

"What I need you to make is a mechanism capable of collapsing and desolating anything around it, basically a bomb stronger than anything ever made." Infinite described his weapon.

After a moment, Bai shook his head. "I must apologize Infinite, but I cannot make the weapon you are asking of me."

"What, why can't you?" Infinite asked.

"It's a limit on my Geass, I am not capable of making the weapon you described because it exceeds the human capability limits." Bai replied.

"You haven't said anything about this limit of your Geass before?" Infinite inquired.

"Yes, well I just never thought it necessary to inform you, anything you've asked me thus far has been within the limit of my Geass."

Infinite sighed. "Well, it is a bit of a set back, but I suppose there is no reason pressing on what isn't even possible. That is all, let's get back to the others." Infinite said and lead Bai out of the room so he could continue work on the KnightCrawlers, and C.C. and Jeremiah were waiting outside the room.

"Well?" C.C. asked as soon as Bai was out of earshot.

"It is just as you suspected C.C., he has not been telling us the truth about his Geass' ability." Lelouch answered.

"Then what is his ability?" Jeremiah wondered.

"How I can't be certain, and I do think he told the truth about not being able to exceed human limits; I can tell you it does actually affect people just like any other Geass has." Lelouch answered.

"Well then what makes you think perhaps the weapon you described was not actually in the human limits?"

"That is not possible Jeremiah. Because the weapon I described to him was F.L.E.I.J.A." Lelouch replied, surprising Jeremiah. "Bai has no knowledge of that weapon, so he assumed that truely no one else had any knowledge of it."

"With that in mind, we can only conclude that his Geass does not work as he has told us, if it did, then he would have been able to make the weapon described to him." C.C. finished.

"We will have to keep an eye on him from now on. Who knows what's going through his head."


	16. Countdown

_Chapter 16: Countdown_

"The Babel Tower, as well as the Shinjuku and Saitama Ghetto's have now fallen prey to Infinite and the Reverse Rebellion's forces." Milly Ashford reported on the news watched by Infinite along with C.C., Jeremiah, and Bai. "Zero, along with the combined cooperation of the Britannian Empire and Chinese Federation, are doing their best to come up with a solution to take them down and finish this war before the peace that was obtained through much trial won't be disturbed. But as Infinite's troops grow in numbers and strength as the war rages on, things are looking grim for the fate of Japan." At this point Infinite turned the T.V. off and turned to his allies.

Jeremiah spoke first. "So, Lord Infinite, are we heading for Ashford Academy next?" He asked.

"No, we will be heading for the Government building at last." Infinite replied.

Bai was confused. "But Infinite, I thought you wanted to take control of all the places that were once held by Lelouch during his reign as Zero. Finishing the takeover of Japan without doing that first would defeat the purpose wouldn't it?

"No, that is wrong Bai, the true purpose for not taking over Japan from the beginning was for 3 reasons. The first was to gain a base of operations to start up the war from incase there was a need to retreat. The second was to be able to bid more time until I could get a more decent number of KnightCrawler pilots to increase our chances of victory even further. And the third reason was to be able to test the enemies strength itself, to see and show the true difference between my power and Zero's. It is just as I first told Zero when I introduced myself; 'If Zero is nothing, then I am everything!'" Infinite replied.

"I see, and you believe that enough time has past to take this war into it's final stage." Bai gathered.

"Yes, and along with that reason, attacking the Ashford Academy would be exactly what Zero expects me to do. If I attack the Academy, it would put him in a more favorable defensive position, but attacking the Government building ahead of schedule would surprise our foes, thus sending them into a state of panic, if only for a moment, putting us at a greater offensive position." Infinite explained.

"And with that, the downfall of Japan will be complete, and we will be free to move on to the Chinese Federation, and then finally the Britannian Empire." C.C. finished.

"So when shall we make the final attack on the government building?" Jeremiah ask.

"In one weeks time, that shall be a good amount of time. It will also give Bai some time to improve on our KnightCrawlers a little more for safety." Infinite said.

"Right, I'll go get to work on them." Bai said leaving the room.

Once Bai was gone, Lelouch took off his helmet and continued to speak with Jeremiah and C.C. "So, what do you think Bai has in store?" Lelouch asked.

"Hard to say at this point. To be honest he might not actually be up to anything, perhaps we're just getting paranoid." C.C. replied.

"True, but I still say its too early to rule out the possibility he does have an evil intention in not telling us the truth of his Geass's power." Lelouch said.

"I still think we are overcompensating this. He might just be keeping it secret for safety."

"How I can't argue it is a possibility, it is still highly unlikely." Lelouch replied. "And either way, not knowing the true extent of his Geass is dangerous since he was brought into our Reverse Rebellion on the assumption our intent was to take over the world." At this Jeremiah stayed silent.

"We should keep him under careful watch from here on, If he does anything that has potential to be dangerous, we intercept him." C.C. said.

"But we must make it look as casual as possible, we still need him working for us until the war is over, and hopefully he won't ever find out my identity. If everything goes well, the members of the Reverse Rebellion will go frantic at the loss of their leader and fall easily to Zero's growing forces." Lelouch said.

"It won't be long now until the end of the war." C.C. stated.

"And soon following, the end of Geass." Lelouch said.

(7 days left) In preparation for the battle that would take control of Japan. Infinite, Jeremiah, C.C. and Bai were all continually coming up with ideas to improve the KnightCrawlers fighting capabilities. And then as discussed, Jeremiah and C.C. were keeping an eye on Bai while making it seem nothing was wrong under the suspicion he could end up a traitor.

(6 days left) Infinite and C.C. give Bai a new project to work on. A new weapon for their KnightCrawlers they called 'Hydron Slash' that will be exclusive for the Utsuri's and the Gawain. As the name implies, it is a form of the M.V.S. that charges a Hydron cannon in the form of a blade, giving it more destructive power and is capable of destroying a Knightmare with a single cut. This was in effort to keep Bai busy in case he truely planned to betray them.

(5 days left) Bai finished making the necessary Hydron Slash's and to continue keeping him busy, C.C. gave him a new project to increase defensive capabilities. She wanted him to make a device that would automatically coat the KnightCrawlers in the perfected barrier to they didn't have to sacrifice offense during the time they defended, and was to be put on as many KnightCrawlers as possible.

(4 days left) Lelouch met with C.C. and Jeremiah for a strategy meeting to help ensure they won the upcoming battle. With Bai still occupied making C.C.'s defense mechanism, they didn't need to worry about following him for the moment.

(3 days left) Bai was still fully occupied making C.C.'s new device for more KnightCrawlers and Infinite prepped everyone on the upcoming battle. (2 days left) Lelouch, C.C., and Jeremiah made final preparations for the battle and made plans on what to do afterward.

(1 day left) Before everyone of the Reverse Rebellion turned in for the night, Lelouch made an announcement to them all as Infinite. "My brave warriors," He began. "Tomorrow is the day we remake history." He heard cheers from everyone. "With the fall of Japan, or as it should be called, Area 11, we will take our first true step at achieving our goal. We will mark our first accomplishment of returning the world under Emperor Lelouch's reign." More cheers erupted from the fighters. "Let us make sure we set the example for any who would appose us this time, so that they will truely come to fear the name, 'Infinite'! Let them know that there is no escape from our wrath. Let them know that they will be destroyed by us, and that this world is not, nor has it ever been theirs; but ours!" He shouted to them all.

Amongst the great cheers of victory before the battle had even began, many had begun chanted. "In-fin-ite! In-fin-ite! In-fin-ite! In-fin-ite!" And with that, Infinite walked back into his quarters.

C.C. was leaning on a wall just outside the room. "That was quite a speech."

"It has been a week, so Suzaku must also have prepare his troops for battle at anytime. Doing this gives them confidence, and confidence will help them to win the next battle. I need the next battle, otherwise my plan will fall apart." Lelouch replied.

"I know Lelouch, I understand completely." C.C. said, and Lelouch entered his room for a good nights rest before the battle."

"Today is the day." Infinite told his many knights as everyone entered their KnightCrawlers, ready to depart for the Government Capital Building. "Now, let Zero feel our strength!" He said, and then lead the charge for the final assault that would completely end Japan.


	17. Winner Take All

_Chapter 17: Winner Take All_

"All KnightCrawlers ready?" Infinite voiced out to all of his Reverse Knights.

"We're all set, Lord Infinite." Jeremiah answered.

"Ready for launch," C.C. said.

"We're good to go." Bai replied.

"Alright, Reverse Knights, launch!" Infinite shouted to all his warriors at the Tower of Babel, and thousands of KnightCrawlers launched and flew out and followed their leader, Infinite.

"You're playing a dangerous game Lelouch," Suzaku muttered to himself while alone in his room. He was staring at the chess board which represented the war between them.

The two kings were facing each other; Lelouch's being at E4 and Suzaku's at E7. Lelouch's side had many more pieces than Suzaku, and therefore more options with what to do next.

While trying to figure out what to do next, someone knocked on the door. Suzaku put Zero's mask back on. "Come in,"

The door opened and Kallen rushed in. "Zero, come quickly, Infinites forces are on their way!" She shouted with urgency.

"You mean they've commenced their attack on Ashford?" Zero confirmed as he stood up.

"No," Kallen corrected him. "We just got confirmation that their coming here!"

"What!" Zero was surprised at this. The way Infinite had been acting thus far, they all assumed his next target would be the Ashford Academy, and after that would they come here.

"We need to prepare everyone for battle, Zero." Kallen said.

"You're right," Zero replied and left the room with Kallen, heading for the Knightmare Hangers; he pushed a button on the side of his helmet and activated a loud speaker for the whole building. "Attention everyone, we have received notice that Infinite and his troops are coming here. All Knightmare pilots are to head to the hangers immediately and prepare for battle. Anyone else still here is to evacuate the building as soon as possible." And at this he cut off to comm.

Kallen and Zero took an elevator down to the Knightmare hanger, where everyone else was already waiting. "Status update," He requested.

"Infinite's troops are less than ten minutes away. We don't have enough time to everyone ready by then." Cornelia was the one who answered.

"I know; that's probably what Infinite was betting on. In any case we need to get as any people out there as soon as possible, give the order for all Knightmare pilots to get into fighting positions as soon as they can take off." Zero said.

"Understood Zero," Cornelia replied, and walked off.

"Professor Lloyd, are our Knightmares all in good condition." Zero inquired.

"Ship-shape and ready to deploy!" Lloyd replied with glee.

"Excellent work," Zero said and made his way to his Lancelot.

As per Zero's orders, any Knightmare pilot that was prepared for launch did so without waiting for everyone to get prepared. Normally doing something like that would cause too many gaps in defenses, but given the circumstance, right now it was probably the better choice. If they lost this battle, everything would be over, so sending out as many troops as fast as possible to slow the enemy down until the main forces were prepared and deployed was the better option. Once that could happen, the real battle would begin.

Infinite's forces now arrived at the Japanese Government building. What forces of Zero's were currently deployed stood ground as to wait out as much time as they could so they would have the best odds once the fighting broke out. In the front of Zero's currently deployed forces were Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim in their Tristan and Mordred Knightmare Frames.

Luckily for them, Infinites already low number in troops had been spread out quite a bit in order to defend the Babel Tower as well as the Saitama and Shinjuku Ghettos, so the number left over to fight here were even smaller. However, that did not give any of them the luxury to underestimate their opponents. Infinite's forces had proven themselves to be more than enough to handle their Knightmares; but this was for all the marbles, they had to win.

Infinite was upon them now, the battle that would decide everything was about to begin. The instant Gino saw Infinite's troops go for their weapons, he cried out. "Attack," And both sides rushed forward and locked each other in combat.

As the two war forces clashed, it was clear that Infinite currently had the upper hand in numbers. The KnightCrawlers power was also nothing to scoff at either, so even if they could stand out here long enough for the difference in numbers to be in their favor, there was still no guarantee they could pull off a victory.

"Here we go!" Gino called and shifted his Knightmare to its fortress mode and fired its guns at the KnightCrawlers as if fly over them, taking out quite a few.

It was then Gino noticed something coming up fast on his radar and switched back to Knightmare mode and pulled out the Master Vibrations Swords to block the very same kind of sword swung at him from an Utsuri. But the powerful KnightCrawler piloted by someone who betrayed the Britannian army did not stop at that; the machine pulled a trigger on the hilt of the sword and it fired of like a Slash Harken, scratching the Tristan's armor and causing it to fall back.

"You're mine, Britannian dog!" The Utsuri's pilot shouted and pulled the hilt downward, and the blade still launched in the air came crashing down on the Tristan's shoulder, rendering the Knightmare's left arm inoperable.

"Damn it," Gino scowled and attempted to fly away and escape for a moment.

The Utsuri did not hesitate to charge after Gino to take him down for good. It was then however that a radio transmission linked with the Tristan. The one who called was Xingke, who must have just launched. "I'm heading toward you, get down now!" He told Gino, who redirected the Tristan's flight and dived down, taking the Utsuri slightly by surprise.

But while his focus was still on the Tristan, Xingke's Shen Hu flew toward it and flung its electronic Slash Harken at it, rapping around its main body. "Take this," Xingke shouted and activated the Hydron charge to destroy the machine.

"Thanks for that one." Gino told Xingke with the still open radio transmission.

"Go back and get your Knightmare repaired; you won't be much help with only one arm." Xingke told Gino, who did as he was told.

Now Cornelia and Nunnally launched their Knightmares together and flew toward the battlefield. "Nunnally, focus on taking out the lesser troops using your speed; taking down their number advantage will help greatly even if the main forces are still left." Cornelia ordered.

"Understood, good luck," Nunnally replied and they flew in opposite directions.

With the lesser KnightCrawlers being slower, preoccupied with their own troops, and their pilots having little experience, Nunnally would be able to quickly take out a great number of their forces. But with the trail of destruction she would leave, it would only be a matter of time before the main forces took notice.

Nunnally flew to one end of the battlefield and took out the wrist blade of the Guinevere and flew in a strait line across the backs of the KnightCrawlers, aiming for their radar heads, so even if they weren't destroyed from her primary attack, they wouldn't be able to see their attacks, and be eliminated soon thereafter.

Once she flown through about 100 meters she veered her path to fly up and began simply taking out any KnightCrawler she came past. She even came at an Utsuri and destroyed it before it had realized she was heading toward it. But near that point had been one of the main forces, the unknown pilot in use of the Tolecnal, and they took notice of her.

Immediately the KnightCrawler took out a M.V.S and swung it for her cockpit; but with her superior speed she was able to block it with little trouble. "You're the Britannian princess Nunnally, correct?" The pilot asked, his voice sounded very young.

"That's correct," Nunnally replied.

"Lucky me, if I take you out, your army will lose much of its moral. Taking out that Knightmare of yours will help no small part either." The pilot stated, and charged at the Guinevere again.

Instead of mixing in with the fray, Lelouch had using the advanced cloaking he had Bai make a while back to sneak past the enemy lines. If he could attack the Knightmare hanger before the majority of troops could launch, this battle would be ended instantly, and he would have seized control of Japan.

Lelouch did not truly expect this war to end there. In fact to accomplish his goal it couldn't end there; he would allow Suzaku and his troops to be able to retreat, and they would probably flee across seas to the Chinese Federation. They would be unable to travel all the way to Britannia, and in fact many would already be too low on battery power to make it to China, but so long as he accomplished getting them out of Japan, it mattered not how many of the regular troops made it through as long at Suzaku got away.

However, for this to work, Lelouch first needed to wait for Suzaku to deploy into battle before commencing his attack; and he would not be able to keep the cloaking on for that long a stretch of time, less sacrificing his own battery power, so if anyone noticed him lying in wait, they would strike. "Hurry up, Zero. I can't wait all day."

And in fact Lelouch didn't need to wait, as soon after that he recognized the Lancelot launch from the Knightmare hanger. Now all he had to do was attack the hanger. Lelouch activated the Gawain's energy wings and flew up toward the hanger; but it seemed luck was not on his side.

His radar detecting an approaching enemy, and when Lelouch took a better look, he realized it was Cornelia. "Infinite!" Cornelia screamed and launched four of her eight Slash Harken and controlled them with the nanotechnology. So they came in around him from different angles.

"I don't think so!" Infinite shouted back, and shoot of the Gawain's finger Slash Harken, swinging them to knock away Cornelia's, which gave him just enough of an opening to get out of the way before Cornelia could reroute the attack to get a hit.

(Damn it, if I get stuck fighting here I won't be able to attack the hanger, and if that happens I may not win this fight!) Lelouch thought to himself as he faced Cornelia.

But Lelouch's misfortune didn't end there. "Infinite!" A cry was sounded from the distance and Lelouch looked to find the Lancelot had already spotted him and heading to attack.

Lelouch would be able to take them both, even on his own with the advanced systems of the KnightCrawlers, but the problem was the now if he wasn't careful fighting two opponents, he could end up killing Suzaku, and then all his endeavors would have been for nothing.

Lelouch was soon forced to put this out of his mind as the Lancelot came upon him, forcing him to fly back before he was hit by the Lancelot's M.V.S., and now had to focus on the battle at hand as it evolved into a true war.

**AN: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but for all of you who have been eager for more, I promise there will be more updates coming soon!**


	18. Check

_Chapter 18: "Check"_

As the fight that would decide Japan's fate continued between Zero and Infinite's forces, Kallen launched her Knightmare to join the battle. Following her launch Nonette also came out. "Time to show these guys who's in charge!" Kallen shouted as she headed toward the enemy line.

"You got it, no mercy." Nonette agreed.

The two flew at a pair of KnightCrawlers and Kallen grabbed its head with her energy pulsar arm, destroying it instantly. At the same time Nonette fired a Hydron cannon from her Knightmare's right hand at the other, also causing it to explode.

Meanwhile Xingke was having difficulty as he was forced into battle with three KnightCrawlers at once. And if that wasn't bad enough on its own one of them was Jeremiah's Deirfgeis, whose ability piloting a Knightmare was increased with the special system where he linked his nervous system was linked with the mechanics of the KnightCrawler, allowing for more precise control.

One of the regular KnightCrawlers came at Xingke's Shen Hu from the side, but he reacted by immediately swinging the Shen Hu's arm and its electronic Slash Harken, which cut strait through the machine and destroyed it. However when Xingke fell back to avoid the explosion the other KnightCrawler came up behind him and began to swing its M.V.S. at him.

But just in the nick of time some laser shots were fired at the KnightCrawler from behind destroying it. "Now we're even." Gino's voice spoke out, apparently having returned to the battle in the Tristan's fortress mode.

Gino must have returned to battle without waiting for his Knightmare to be fixed, because the repairs would have taken much longer. "Thanks Gino," Xingke replied gratefully anyways.

"Do not celebrate just yet; you still have to get through me!" Jeremiah reminded the two pilots and flew toward them.

Infinite's original task was now stalled with the arrival of both the Corneli MK and the Lancelot. "Take this," Cornelia yelled as she fired off all eight of her Slash Harken and moved them around so that they would attack Infinite's Gawain from different angles, and giving little room to avoid them.

However Infinite used his improved version of their Perfect Barrier which was capable of blocking the attack easily and without being pushed back as theirs would have.

Once Cornelia retracted the weapons, Infinite dropped his barrier and the two Hydron Cannon's on his shoulders charged and fired at her. Cornelia did not know whether this Hydron shot was integrated with nanotechnology or not, as if it were the regular type their HyBreD would not work against it, so she dodged by flying upward.

It had been a good move too, because the Hydron Cannon continued on instead of turning. Given the opportunity, Zero took out his M.V.S. and swung it at the Gawain from the side, but he wasn't fast enough as the Gawain still managed to fly up and out of the way. "Get back here, Infinite!" Zero shouted after the Gawain.

"Come and get me!" Infinite shouted back.

Anya shot some of her proximity missiles at a small group of KnightCrawlers in front of her, annihilating them and then speed past. She continued to fly forward toward her actual target that was currently locked in combat with Gino and Xingke: Jeremiah. As she neared him, she fired off more missiles that would then lock on to his KnightCrawler.

However, Jeremiah must have noticed the missiles incoming, because his Deirfgeis suddenly jumped into the air and spun toward them. The missiles flew up toward Jeremiah, but then small cannons opened on the sides of the Deirfgeis and shot a sheet of electricity, which short-circuited the missiles and they blew up before reaching him. "Anya Alstreim now as well, huh? I certainly am drawing quite the crowd." Jeremiah told the three in a mocking voice.

"It's only natural." Anya said. "This past year we had all come to trust you, and had believed all of this kind of stuff behind you. Yet you still went and betrayed that trust."

"The only person I serve is Lord Lelouch. Infinite is truly a man who understands his wishes; so why would I not follow him?" Jeremiah asked.

"Then this will be where you die!" Gino shouted at Jeremiah and charged him with his M.V.S., but Jeremiah easily flew out of the way and launched two of his lance Slash Harkens and Gino would have been caught if it had not been for Xingke who flew in front of him and blocked the attack with his electronic Slash Harken using their new whip function. And then Anya prepared the Stark Hydron Cannon and fired it at Jeremiah, who then activated the Perfect Barrier which blocked against it completely.

"I will not die! With this incredible machine linked to my nervous system, there is no one who can stop me!" Jeremiah boast as he continued to fend off all three fighters with little problem.

At this time, the pilot of the Tolecnal faced Nunnally in her Guinevere. He made the first move of their fight by pulling out his M.V.S. and slashing her at high speed. But with the Guinevere's advanced Energy Wing System, she flew up and went right over the Tolecnal and then turned herself around and struck its back with her wrist blade, but the machine was barely scratched.

"Don't be such a fool. Right now you are looking at the inventor of all these incredible machines. Surely you don't think I would make my personal KnightCrawler so weak just any attack could pierce me?" The Tolecnal's pilot said.

Nunnally became shocked. Not by the fact her attack could not sufficiently damage the KnightCrawler, but because this person who sounded to be so young just told her that he was the person who created the KnightCrawlers. "Just who are you?" Nunnally asked.

"I am no one of consequence, not yet anyhow." The pilot replied.

"What… does that mean?" Nunnally asked.

"You don't need to know, because before this battle is over and Japan is under Infinite's control, you will be dead." The pilot responded and put his machines hands together, having them shift to be some sort of cannon.

The cannon fired off consecutive rounds of the Hydron Bullets the Utsuri's had used. Nunnally operated the Guinevere and flew up and out of the way, but then she gasped at what happened next. The perhaps 20 Hydron Bullets that had been fired suddenly shifted direction. These Hydron Bullets must have been using the nano technology for the same bend-fire effect as the first Hydron Cannons used by the KnightCrawlers.

But the Guinevere had yet to be equipped with a HyBreD defense system, and so was forced to continue dodging using her superior speed. However the Hydron Bullets were faster than even her speed and she had to continually spin, twist, and shift her Knightmare to avoid being struck as the orbs of energy continued to turn around each time they missed to try and strike her again. Even if she did have the HyBreD system, against multiple attacks coming from different angles, it would not help her.

Finally worse came to worst, the pilot of the Tolecnal got the many Hydron Bullets to surround her in a way she could no longer run. "You're mine!" The pilot yelled and all of the Bullets shot inward at the Guinevere at once, exploding on contact.

The pilot waited a moment but suddenly reacted to what came the next second. The Guinevere emerged from the explosions dust unscarred and charged at him, plunging her wrist blade strait for the head of the Tolecnal to sever its sight capabilities.

The Tolecnal however grabbed onto the Guinevere's arm and kept it just out of reach. "You… had a Perfect Barrier didn't you?" The pilot discerned.

"That's right; now take this!" Nunnally shouted back and then before the Tolecnal could react, energy like the kind the Lancelot had once used for his M.V.S. energy slash attack gathered on the Guinevere's wrist blade and extended out, cutting through the Tolecnal's neck and cut off its head so he could no longer tell where anything was.

The Tolecnal flew back, but without being able to see he wouldn't be able to fight anymore. The pilot clicked his tongue in frustration and used his main compartment as an escape pod, launching out of the Tolecnal's body and flying away from the battle field.

Cornelia and Zero managed to get the Gawain backed against a wall. "You're done for now, Infinite!" Cornelia shouted and launched all of her Slash Harken toward him.

However, instead of striking the Gawain, four of them stuck into the wall behind it and the other four floated in place in front of it. At that moment an electric fence stretched across the Slash Harken, incasing the Gawain inside. "It's over!" Zero shouted and flew at the Gawain, ready to pierce it with his M.V.S.

"I don't think so!" Infinite retorted and opened up cannons in the palms of the Gawain's hands, and he used the Shock Sheet that was used in the Saitama and Shinjuku Ghetto battles to severely short out the Knightmare's battery power.

The Shock Sheet was used in a small burst so as just enough to render Cornelia's electric cage useless and fly up and out of the way of Zero's attack. But instead of coming back to continue the battle Infinite continued to fly upward and then stopped in front of the Knightmare launching pads. "This battle is mine!" Infinite shouted and fired his shoulder mounted Hydron Cannons at the exits, using the nanotechnology in order to curve them to the sides to make sure all exits for the Knightmares were destroyed.

Cornelia and Zero looked on with shock, they had just cut off any more reinforcements coming for this fight, and the difference in numbers had not yet been made up. With the KnightCrawlers advantage, everyone who noticed this had happened knew Zero had lost.

The Gawain floated and turned back to Cornelia and Zero. "Admit it, you have lost this battle." He told them.

Inside the Lancelot, Suzaku clenched his teeth. Every fiber in his body was telling him to press on and keep fighting. But he knew what Infinite said was true. Just then, a radio transmission came on. "Zero," it was Xingke's voice. "We _need_ to fall back." He told him. "We have nowhere we can run to in Japan anymore; we need to retreat to the Chinese Federation."

"But what about the others still inside?" Suzaku responded as Zero.

"We can't save them, there's just no time; I'm sorry." Xingke replied.

Zero was silent for a moment, but knew what he had to do. He opened up radio transmission with everyone and sounded the retreat to the Chinese Federation. As Zero's army retreated, Infinite made no attempt to stop them, and instead focused his troops to capture anyone remaining inside the Government building.

As Zero retreated, Cornelia spoke to him. "We had no other choice, Zero. Once we're within the Chinese Federation, we will at least have some time to prepare before Infinite comes to get us. This war isn't over, not by a long shot."

"I know, but out numbers have been severely cut, and we will still be handicapped without Professor Lloyd and Rakshata's technical skills."

"You rang?" Rakshata's voice was suddenly heard. "Don't worry, the Pudding Earl, Cécile and I all got out safely."

"But… how?" Zero asked.

"We had a secret escape unit ready in case worse came to worse." Cécile spoke. "But I'm afraid we are the only ones who got out."

"That's alright, we'll need as many as we can get. If three can make a difference, I'll take it." Zero responded, and they all continued on to the Chinese Federation.

Infinite walked though the Japan Government building as his troops rounded up anyone inside. Eventually he came to Zero's quarters, and entered the room. As he looked around he saw a chess board on the table, and laughed at the sight. "Interesting play…" He said to himself and stepped up to the chess board. He examined the placement of the pieces and could tell which side was who. After a moment Infinite moved a knight piece from his side so that it was in position to take Zero's king placing it down firmly. "Check; your move."

* * *

**AN: Here we go, the virtual half-point of the story. This is where the story really starts getting good. Keep a look out for the next chapter!**


	19. The Identity Crisis 2

_Chapter 19: The Identity Crisis 2_

"And this will be your room for the time being, Zero." Xingke showed Zero to where he would stay while they were in the Chinese Federation.

"Thank you, Xingke." Zero told him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone for a while."

"Of course, Zero." Xingke said and left the room.

Suzaku sat down on the bed in the corner of the room and took off his helmet. He was still thinking about the major loss in Japan. As of now, all of Japan is under Infinite's, no, Lelouch's reign. Everything had been going so horribly for them it was unbelievable. Suzaku had so many emotions twisted up inside him; anger, depression, confusion, anguish… No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even begin to fathom what Lelouch's plan could possibly be in doing this.

The Lelouch he knew wouldn't do anything that would hurt them. That time over a year ago when he had given his life as a tyrant, it had been to save the world and everyone in it. So why; Why was Lelouch doing all this?

Suzaku's thought were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Lord Zero, may I come in?" It was Lloyd.

Suzaku put his mask back on. "Yes, come in." The door opened, and then not only Lloyd, but Kallen and Nunnally entered with him with grim expressions. "What is it?" He asked them.

Suzaku looked at Lloyd who was baring a smile, but Suzaku could sense a form of confliction hidden within that smile that was not normal of him. When the door closed behind them, Kallen spoke up. "Suzaku, we know it's you." She said, immediately paralyzing Suzaku.

He looked at Nunnally from behind his mask, and even though she could not see his face, she knew what he was thinking. "I didn't tell them, Suzaku; they came to me." She informed Suzaku, who then looked back between Lloyd and Kallen with shock covering his face behind his mask.

"Please Suzaku, be honest with us." Kallen asked, sounding like she was holding back tears and clenching her fists.

It took Suzaku a moment before he was able to process his thoughts again. Once he could, he sighed and lowered his head, and then took off the mask of 'Zero'. "How long have you known?" he asked them.

"I've always known, Suzaku." Lloyd told him. "I knew you too well, so I could tell it was you immediately; although I could only be completely certain when you asked me to make the Lancelot for you."

Suzaku ran his hand through his hair; feeling like an idiot for thinking Lloyd of all people wouldn't realize his identity. "As for me, I realized it when you first saved me in the Lancelot, that day Infinite showed up." Kallen said, and the tears she was holding back started to fall down her cheeks. "I wanted to deny it though. I kept telling myself that there was no way; that you were dead. But the more I denied it, the more I knew it was true."

"They came to me because they thought I deserved to know, unaware that I already knew." Nunnally told Suzaku.

"But… if you already knew it was me, why did you wait until now to say anything?" Suzaku asked, still hanging his head.

Lloyd answered. "Well, I figured you had a reason to be keeping your identity a secret, so I wanted to let it be. But…"

"Given the current circumstances, we wanted to tell you. Right now, we can't have any doubts about our leader." Kallen said.

"I understand." Suzaku replied.

"On that note, there's something I have to ask you." Kallen said, and then there was a pause before she managed the question. "Why did you fight with Lelouch at the end?"

Hearing this question, Suzaku did not flinch. He did not light up with shock or drop his head more in depression. Coming from Kallen, the person who had actually fought and supposedly killed him off, that was a perfectly valid question in this situation. In the back of his mind, Suzaku always knew that one day he might have to own up for everything he had done and everything he had kept a secret. Lifting his head, he stared into Kallen's eyes with the most determined look that could have been misinterpreted as anger.

After a moment's silence, Suzaku confessed. "Because it was the only way Lelouch could think of to make peace."

"Suzaku!" Nunnally shouted, not expecting him to reveal so much.

Now it was Kallen's turn to be surprised, although Lloyd only smiled more genuinely. "The truth is… everything then was Lelouch's plan to instigate peace into a world his father had thoroughly torn apart. But to accomplish this, he could only come up with one plan." Suzaku told them.

"He had to give the world a single enemy, himself." Nunnally said, beginning to cry.

"And I was to be the savior. All according to Lelouch's plan, I faked my death at your hands, Kallen; I took on the persona of Zero, and I killed Lelouch. And the only people who knew of the plan were me, Lelouch, C.C., and Jeremiah."

"Wait a minute, Jeremiah!" Kallen suddenly shouted that question. "But- but Jeremiah only ever served Lelouch! If he knew about all that, why would he side with Infinite?"

There was only one way to answer that question, but it was almost impossible for Suzaku to get the words out. "Infinite… is Lelouch." He said at last.

Traumatized. That word was now the only thing that could possibly define how Kallen felt inside. It was if someone had reached inside of her and ran a hundred blades through every fiber of her being. First she was told that everything Lelouch had done had been for the greater good. But then the very next second she was being told he was also the biggest threat to the whole world.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to lash out at Suzaku and force him to explain how any of that could be true. She wanted to do something, but her body was now completely unresponsive. With an unimaginable emotional wound in her heart, Kallen simply collapsed to the ground, just barely able to use her arms to support herself.

Even Lloyd's face was colored with surprised, and so he asked the question Kallen was unable to speak. "But why would Lelouch do that?"

"As for that, I'm afraid I don't have the slightest idea." Suzaku answered regretfully. "No matter how hard I've thought about it, I can't understand what Lelouch could be thinking."

Suddenly, Kallen got her second wind. All her traumatized emotions became pockets of pure rage and she stormed to her feet and punched Suzaku to the ground, getting on top of him and grabbing his collar, shaking him violently. "DON'T GIVE ME THAT CRAP!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. Luckily, the room they were in was soundproof, so there was no worry about someone coming in overhearing the commotion.

"Kallen!" Nunnally called out, but it was obvious nothing was going to stop Kallen from speaking what was on her mind.

"Why would Lelouch- why would anyone destroy something they worked so hard to create!" Kallen asked Suzaku, using the second part of the question just to further build on her point. "If you expect me to take that at face value, you're insane!" She told Suzaku, and then repeated the big question. "Why in hell would Lelouch do this!"

Even after all this, Suzaku did not waver anymore. He understood Kallen's rage, but despite that one truth remained. "I don't know." He answered Kallen, but all that accomplished was having her take her fist and punch him a second time. "I'm sorry, but those are the facts. I want to know what Lelouch is thinking just as much as you do, believe me; but that doesn't change the fact I don't know right now."

Kallen breathed heavily while still staring at Suzaku with complete rage. But after a moment she just broke down and began to sob uncontrollably. And for a few minutes no one said anything else, because there was nothing left to say…

Within the room Suzaku had used within the government building, Lelouch twirled a King's chess piece in one hand. But even though he now had full control over Japan, his expression was anything but happy. At the moment he was waiting for someone to have a private meeting with them.

Finally, a knock came at the door, and Lelouch put on his Infinite mask. "Come in," He told the person on the other side.

The door opened, and the young boy known as Bai walked in and sat opposite of Infinite. "You wished to see me, Lord Infinite?" Bai asked.

"Yes Bai, I did." Lelouch said with an air of frustration.

"Is something wrong?" Bai questioned, catching Infinite's tone.

"Yes Bai." Lelouch said again. "Tell me Bai, do you know what a 'King' is?" He asked Bai while still twirling the chess piece, making him wonder what kind of 'King' he was referring to. "A King is the most important person to any group of people; be that group a world, a country, or simply a single army."

"I'm confused, where is this going?" Bai asked.

"When a King is killed, the morale of his entire empire crumbles, and they become unable to function. Even if the King does not die, when he is not in complete control, the empire cannot function properly, which leads to problems that cause downfall.

"So answer me this, Bai. In out rebellion, who here is the 'King'?"

The question seemed strange and without point to Bai, as for anyone fighting here the answer was quite obvious. "Well, you are of course, Lord Infinite." He answered.

However, when Bai gave this answer, Lelouch slammed the chess piece he had been twirling in his hand onto the table between him and Bai. "Exactly; in this army, I am your 'King'. So Bai, do you understand why I have told you this?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I do not understand." Bai said.

"You play dumb, Bai. I have been monitoring your activities for some time now, and it seems to me you are acting outside of your assigned duties. This is dangerous business Bai; and therefore I must have you understand your place, and warn you not to act out any longer. I have you where you are so this operation can run as smoothly as possible; if you disobey me, you will cause my empire to crumble. Do you understand?"

At this, Bai clenched his fist and answered sternly. "With all due respect, Lord Infinite, everything I have done up to this point has been for the good of this rebellion. Whatever I have done that you have seen as 'acting out of my assigned duties' I encourage you not to dwell on it." Bai proclaimed these things, believing that he hadn't any fault in what he had been doing. "If that is all, I will be returning to my duties now."

As Bai said this, he stood up and waited a moment in case Infinite had something else to add. When he said nothing, Bai turned and walked out of the door, passing C.C. who was on her way in.

When the doors closed, C.C. spoke up. "How did it go?"

"Not well." Lelouch answered, removing his helmet. "Bai feels I am too worrisome and that everything he has done is for the good of the rebellion. But if he continues to do this, he could endanger my plans."

"So what do we do?" C.C. asked.

"There's only one thing we can do…" Lelouch began, and then looked straight into C.C.'s eyes. "I have to accelerate my plans; when we leave for the Chinese Federation, it will be the final battle."


	20. Upgrades 4

_Chapter 20: Upgrades 4_

Looking around in the Knightmare hanger of the Chinese Federation, Rakshata gave a long sigh. "Even with our best efforts, we weren't able to make them all strong enough to combat Infinite's army." She said depressingly.

"Well that just means we have to try harder." Lloyd said enthusiastically.

Lloyd had come straight here after meeting with Suzaku along with Kallen and Nunnally. Kallen had gone to her quarters once she had stopped crying, but was now left in despair by herself. Lloyd did have some insecurities about everything that had happened and what he had been told, but he refused to show it and hid under the mask of his usual personality. Honestly, he knew Rakshata would be able to see through his guise and realize something was bothering him, but he also knew she wouldn't say anything because he was hiding it.

"Even if you say that, it all comes down to how well we work." Rakshata said, putting a finger to her forehead like she had a headache. "We've never been forced to think this fast, even when Lelouch was Zero. It's really starting to run me dry."

Suddenly, someone else spoke and walked up to Lloyd and Rakshata. "In regards to that, I think I might be able to help." The two of them turned and saw Xingke coming toward them with the young woman who had spoken; Nina Einstein.

A few months after Lelouch had been killed, Nina decided she wanted to continue working as a scientist, and wished to become employed within the Chinese Federation as their head mechanic for Knightmares. Her skills had already been well shown from creating F.L.E.I.J.A. and its countermeasure, so they had agreed to hire her almost immediately.

Compared to back then, Nina was now a well-composed young scientist, and her work was seen as quite substantial. "I believe you two are acquainted with Miss Nina Enstein." Xingke said and motioned to Nina

"I have a few ideas of my own I believe will benefit our fight." She told Lloyd and Rakshata.

"Well, your help is more than welcome, Miss Einstein." Rakshata said.

"Pleas, call me Nina." Nina told Rakshata.

"Yes, yes, then let's get started." Lloyd said with his arms held high.

"I'll leave you all to it." Xingke told them, giving a small bow and leaving the hanger.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to start off with the Shen Hu." Nina told Lloyd and Rakshata, and brought up its blueprint on the screen.

"What do you have in mind?" Rakshata asked.

"I understand you have added functions to the Shen Hu's Electronic Slash Harken to charge a Hydron blast through them. I would like to build upon that to make them lasers." Nina answered.

"Lasers?" Rakshata explained.

"Yes, adding a stark Hydron Cannon on the end of the Slash Harkens will enable the Shen Hu to be able to fight both close-combat and long range efficiently."

"I see, I see," Lloyd said with a grin, approving of the idea. "Aside from the Baryon Cannon, the Shen Hu does not have much in the way of long range combat capabilities, so this will give it a good fighting range expansion."

"The next one I would like to work on is the Guinevere." Nina told them, and switched the diagrams.

"What did you have in mind?" Rakshata asked.

"I understand that you two have been attempting to avoid putting any excess weight onto the Guinevere in order to assure that its speed can stay as high as possible." Nina stated first. "If you are that worried about diminishing its speed, then what we need to do is turn its speed into an attack of its own."

"Do you mean to say you plan to turn the energy wings into a weapon themselves?" Rakshata confirmed.

"Yes, by increasing the energy output of the energy wings, they can be used as a lethal weapon while not having to ever stop moving."

"Lovely idea, Nina." Lloyd said joyously.

"Now there is the Lancelot and the Corneli." Nina began, but then gave a pause as if thinking about something.

"Nina, is something wrong?" Rakshata asked her.

"Personally, I've always been worried about how the Reverse Rebellion has been being supplied with their KnightCrawlers all this time." Nina started, seemingly diverging from her original topic. "No matter how good a technician they have, it is questionable as to where their material for making their machines comes from."

"What are you saying?" Lloyd asked.

"I'm saying that wherever their machines come from, they seem to be able to make them much faster than us, and make them stronger. The Guinevere is our biggest asset as it is a 10th generation Knightmare. Out enemy realizes this as well, so I believe it is reasonable to expect their next attack to come prepared with 10th generations themselves." She stated, and now the two scientists saw where she was going. "I want to remodel the Lancelot and Corneli into 10th Generation Knightmares to prepare for this."

"I see, well more firepower like the 10th Gen.'s would certainly be helpful." Rakshata said to herself. "But if we did go through with this we'd have to be clear on what to do with their previous weaponry."

"Speed is their greatest weapon after all." Lloyd added. "We can't have too much holding the 10th Generations down, or they just become vulnerable."

"Not to worry, I already have the equipment issue figured out. If you just leave the two Knightmares to me, I can have them combat ready in no time." Nina told them with a smile.

"Excellent; so now that we have those out of the way… might I make an inquiry about our little project?"

"Yes, Professor Lloyd; everything has finally been completed." Nina answered.

"Project, what project?" Rakshata asked.

"The weapon I've been meaning to add onto the Guren." Lloyd told Rakshata. "I've had Nina here working on it since before the Reverse Rebellion began."

"Wait a minute, since before it began? Just what were planning on using this weapon for in the first place." Rakshata questioned.

"It had meant to be a safeguard for any future problems that might have occurred. Although I never thought that we would actually end up using it." Lloyd explained.

"Just what is this thing anyhow; are you finally going to tell me?" Rakshata asked, tired of being left out of the loop for so long.

"It's something even more devastating than the Hydron Cannon. So much so there isn't a defense we've been able to create that can defend against it." Lloyd answered with a sly look on his face.

Whatever it was, he was selling it pretty big. Rakshata's attention was completely wrapped around what Lloyd was saying. "Allow me to show you." Nina said and motioned toward a large door that opened up and a carrier machine drove slowly in carrying the mechanism the two of them had secretly created.

On the machine was its name, written out it huge golden letters. Upon reading those words, Rakshata couldn't believe her eyes. "It couldn't be… Just what have you two made!?" She asked, almost angry with the two of them for this.

"You don't need to worry, Rakshata." Nina assured her. "This weapon has gone through a great number of tests to ensure it is safe to use on the battlefield. There is a purpose for the designation it has been given following the primary title."

With Nina's words, Rakshata re-read the words and understood what the designation was supposed to represent. "This is… just incredible." She said, simply flabbergasted by the idea.

"In addition to this," Nina continued. "I have managed to recreate the nanotechnology our enemy uses in their Hydron Cannons perfectly. With this technology, I will be able to equip our entire army with the Bend-fire Hydron Cannons." She stated proudly, and both Rakshata and Lloyd were amazed by the young scientist whose genius had created these amazing weapon.

In Japan, Infinite, C.C., and Bai were walking across their Knightmare hanger hall while going through plans to improve their KnightCrawlers for the final battle. "I'm sure you know what my first concern for the upcoming battle is Bai." Infinite stated as they came to a stop in front of the Gawain.

"The 10th generation Knightmare, sir?" Bai confirmed.

"Yes, the Guinevere is a formidable weapon for our opponents. And that is precisely why I need you to remodel my KnightCrawler into a 10th generation form."

"Just the Gawain, sir?" Bai asked. "If you would like, I can turn as many of the KnightCrawlers into 10th Generations as need be. It would likely even become easier for our less experienced pilots to use them thanks to the lack of weaponry that would be equipped." He pointed out.

"No, just the Gawain." Infinite told Bai. "No matter how useful the 10th Generations are, we cannot be sacrificing too much power for speed. I am the only one who will require a 10th Generation model; everyone else will be needed to hold off Zero's army while I attack Zero himself. Once I have defeated Zero, victory can be said to be as good as ours."

"But I should at least also modify the main force's KnightCrawlers into 10th Generations as well." Bai insisted. "It is quite likely Zero's army will attempt to create more 10th Generation Knightmares. If we do not have more than just one, we may still be put at a disadvantage."

"You are not to modify any other KnightCrawler other than my personal Gawain into a 10th Generation model; that is an order, Bai!" Infinite told Bai, stressing the importance of each word.

Bai recalled their conversation before about how Infinite was worried about him acting outside his assigned duties. This direct order was probably a way of telling Bai he is not to do anything other than what he is told. "As you wish, Lord Infinite." Bai said, not arguing anymore on the subject. "So what shall I do with the rest of the KnightCrawlers?"

"C.C. will give you the details. I have other matters to attend to with overseeing the rule of Area 11." Infinite said, returning Japan to the name it was called when under Britannian rule.

With that said, Infinite walked away and left C.C. to handle prepping Bai on what else needed to be done. "Alright Bai, I need you to pay attention because I'm only going over this once." C.C. told Bai. "The main problem we will face when we launch for China is the fact that we cannot take all our forces so that we can keep a hold here in Area 11. To compensate for this, we need you to be able to create 200 auto-pilot units. Is that something you can do?" C.C. made sure, since they now had the knowledge Bai's Geass could not create something that exceeded the possible human capability.

Bai put his hand to his chin and closed his eyes. "Yes, I will be able to create that." He answered, looking back up at C.C. "In addition, I will be able to add the auto-pilot system directly into our existing KnightCrawlers if you would like."

"Yes, that will be fine, we should not need to keep too many of the KnightCrawlers here in order to keep up our rule. Give half the regular forces auto-pilot features, those who piloted them before will stay here and secure Area 11, as well at 3 of the Utsuri pilots. Other than that, the regular forces are not to have any upgrades added to them. This is mainly for the conservation of time to allow us to leave sooner."

"What kind of deadline am I working with here?" Bai asked, to make sure of his timeframe.

"We want to have everything ready in a month. Will you be able to make the necessary upgrades in that timeframe?"

"As long as I pace myself throughout the day instead of using my Geass power at one time of the day, I should be able to build more auto-pilot systems each day. If I do that, I should have everything prepared for the battle by that deadline." Bai answered.

"Very good; that is all you need to work on, no changes are to be made to any other of the main forces except for the Gawain, begin with the Gawain and then focus sole on the auto-pilot systems. As you as you are finished, we will set off for China."

"Understood," Bai answered.

With everything taken care of, C.C. left to leave Bai to his work. But as she walked away, she glanced back at him as he removed his contact lenses to begin using his Geass. She wondered what kind of secret Bai was keeping about the power of his Geass and what he planned to do by keeping it a secret. But no matter what she thought, it didn't change the fact they still needed him and his Geass until the final battle was over.

C.C. narrowed her eyes at Bai and contemplated what the best way to handle the situation would be, and then turned away and turned a corner out of view. "It will be the final battle, so there is nothing else to be done." She said to herself, and returned to prepare herself for the upcoming month.


	21. Beginning of the End

_Chapter 21: Beginning of the End_

"So how is everything coming along?" Zero asked Nina as he walked up to her, Rakshata, and Lloyd in the Knightmare hanger.

"We've completed all of the upgrades to our Knightmare army." Nina said while looking at a clipboard she had, probably making last minute checks on everything. "Honestly, I thought we'd have less time to prepare. But it's been almost a month and Infinite hasn't left Japan."

"I'm sure he has something up his sleeve. We should be ready for combat at all times." Zero said.

"We have patrols at the sea border that will contact us as soon as they see Infinite's army flying over the ocean. So we're sure to be notified well in advance." Rakshata noted. "And of course there's our new secret weapon." She added, speaking about the Guren's new weapon.

"What do you suppose the chances we'll really need to use it in the end are?" Zero asked, still apprehensive about the weapon, as were they all.

"Given all of our previous battles, the chance we will need it for the battle is especially high." Nina stated. "In fact I would recommend not waiting until it is a desperate situation to use it." She told Zero, but he was a bit unsteady about using such a weapon without proper cause.

Realizing his concerns, Lloyd added in the facts. "As stated before Lord Zero, this weapon has already gone through a series of tests to make certain it is safe for use on an actual battlefield. You shouldn't feel apprehensive about it."

Zero did not respond to this, and instead looked up at the Guren and its second arm that now had the dreadful weapon implanted in it. The name was hidden from view at the moment, but just knowing it was there filled Suzaku with a sense of regret.

"Keep up the good work." Zero stated simply after a moment and then walked away.

"How is it going, Bai?" Infinite asked Bai as he completed putting in another auto-pilot system into a KnightCrawler.

As he finished, Bai put on his contact lenses to conceal his Geass and turned to Infinite. "Just finished, that was the last of the upgrades requested to be complete before your departure." He answered, although his breathing was irregular, showing he had been using his Geass to much at once.

"Bai, are you feeling okay?" Infinite asked, noticing Bai's breathing.

"I'm fine; I've just never had to use my Geass this consistently over a long stretch of time." Bai answered, but Infinite did not seem convinced.

"Well that's not good." He said, and then crossed his arms as if contemplating something. "If you are worn out from using Geass, you won't be able to pilot the Tolecnal properly." He said, and Bai became shocked because he understood what that meant.

"No! You can't be saying you want me to stay behind while you invade China!?" He shouted in distress, not wanting to be left behind.

"Bai, I understand how you must feel. But you are too important an asset to risk losing on the battlefield." Infinite told Bai.

But that was a lie. Lelouch never had any intention of taking Bai with him to China in the first place. He had rigged this plan beforehand so that Bai would be too worn out on the day of departure to be able to pilot a KnightCrawler properly; giving him this excuse to not let him come. Lelouch made it this way because of Bai's loyalty to 'Infinite's cause'; and realized that if he were to come along, he would try too hard to succeed, and maybe even resort to some drastic measure to ensure victory.

Lelouch could not allow that to happen. In order to make sure nothing upset his plans, he had to make sure Bai was not present at the battle.

But Bai did not let up. "I can still fight! All I need is an hour or two of rest and I'll-"

"But we don't have two hours to wait; we cannot give our enemy any more time than we already have to prepare for our attack. The army leaves in 5 minutes, you are to stay here, Bai."

"But-"

"That's an order, Bai." Infinite commanded and then walked away as he activated the PA system to inform the troops of their departure. "Attention, all troops departing for China, we leave in 5 minutes. Everyone is to…"

Infinite continued, but Bai drone out the sound as he walked him walk away after denying him his right to fight on the front lines. However, after another moment, Bai's clenched hands suddenly relaxed as if he had completely calmed down and his scowl turned into a sly grin. "That's right, all according to plan." He muttered to himself so no one else would hear him, although the true meaning of those words was probably only known to him.

Less than an hour later, shapes became visible from the coast of Asia. The lookouts posted by the Chinese Federation noticed them and pulled out binoculars in order to get a better look. What they saw was what they had been waiting for all this time: Infinite's army. "Make the call." One of the lookouts told another, who then scrambled for the phone.

When the call came in, the PA system was used in order to warn everyone of the impending danger. "Attention, all Knightmare pilots! Attention, all Knightmare Pilots! Infinite's army has been spotted over the Sea of Japan; estimate time of arrival is placed at T-minus 1 hour 13 minutes! I repeat…" The voice over the PA system continued while everyone was preparing for battle.

In her room, Kallen listened to the announcement and put on a tough front. "Lelouch…" She whispered to herself and then stood up from her bed and made her way to the Knightmare hanger. "I don't care how, but I will get some answers!" She stated with determination and clenched her fists.

"He's finally here." Nunnally said upon hearing the announcement and began her way to the hanger as well.

Suzaku was alone in his room when the announcement came on. He just sat for a moment without doing anything and stared at Zero's mask on the table in front of him. "He's coming." He said, and then grabbed Zero's mask, put it on his head and exited his room.

As he stood while the pilots scrambled past him to get to their machines, Lloyd looked up and then lowered his head. "It's time." He stated to himself.

The forces were all deployed over the Chinese Federation. All the pieces were set. Everything was prepared. All that was left was for the enemy army to arrive. While they waited, the Knightmares piloted by Nunnally, Cornelia, and Zero floated out to the front. These were the three 10th Generation Knightmares.

There was the Guinevere Royale, which Nunnally piloted. And now there was Cornelia's new Knightmare, the Corneli MK II, which was slimmed down from its previous version and given a solid color somewhere between pink and violet and had five feathered energy wings that matched it in color to give it tremendous speed capabilities.

And finally, with the same style of features – the new Lancelot Camelot – was a solid gold with matching energy wings. As he waited, he thought about Nina's warning. _"In fact I would recommend not waiting until it is a desperate situation to use it."_

Suzaku knew this was true; they could not simply wait for there to be no other option before using that weapon. But at the same time he did not want to carelessly sling such a monstrosity around at the start. Thinking the situation over, he placed a radio call to Kallen.

"Kallen, stay behind for the fight. Your weapon will be what decides the winner of this battle. We cannot fire it too soon or too late; so wait for my signal and then fire it without hesitation." Suzaku told her.

"Understood, Zero." Kallen answered with conviction.

That tone almost surprised Suzaku, thinking she might start thinking about the fact Lelouch was leading the incoming threat and not be as focused. The radio chat ended there, and it was not long afterward that Infinite's army could be seen on its way.

"Alright, listen up!" Zero spoke to his whole army. "All troops except the Guren are to attack on my signal. When I give you the order to scatter, get as far out of the way as possible for the Guren's secret weapon.

"Nunnally and Cornelia, we will fly ahead of the charge and attack the main forces, beginning with the Utsuri. Take down as many as you can, but the moment it begins to become a task, fall back and regroup with the rest of the army."

"Roger," Nunnally and Cornelia both told Zero together, and then the three of them took out their weapons.

For the Guinevere, her two wrist blades extended past the machine's hands and then were covered in energy. For the Corneli, Electronic Slash Harken were shot from the machines wrists and ankles with their blades in the shape of small axes, and being covered in energy as well. And for the Lancelot, the machine gripped two sword hilts at its waist and pulled them off. They were only hilts, but as he pulled them out solid blades of energy extended from each hilt as deadly weapons.

The weapons for 10th generation Knightmares were overly simple, but with the speed they contained, it was that exact simplicity that made them all the more effective in battle. Infinite's army approached, and Zero's army laid in wait for the perfect moment to strike.

Suzaku intended to end this war today with this battle, and although he did not know it, that was also Lelouch's intention. The two sides of 'Zero' and 'Infinite' were about to clash… for the very last time.

Watching them get closer, Suzaku shouted out to his soldiers as Zero. "Everyone, charge!" He shouted, and then the flood of Knightmares raced forward with the 10th Generations skipping ahead of them and heading straight for the enemy.

Infinite's forces saw this happen, and in response Lelouch watched from inside his 10th generation model of the Gawain, which was jet black and much slimmer than any its previous forms along with its energy wings matching the night color.

When he saw Zero's army charge, he shouted to his own troops. "Charge!" And his army increased their speed to clash with their enemy all the sooner.

This would undoubtedly be the final battle between Zero and Infinite. It was the beginning... of the end.


	22. The Secret Weapon

_Chapter 22: The Secret Weapon_

Moving as fast as they were able, the three 10th Generation Knightmares – the Corneli, Guinevere, and Lancelot – flew out and began to attack the Utsuri KnightCrawlers. But they knew already it would not be easy; the Utsuri KnightCrawlers were piloted by people who betrayed the Britannian Empire and had experience piloting these machines unlike the rest of the pilots that joined the rebellion.

But that was the purpose of their speed. Speed was the single greatest weapon a 10th Generation Knightmare possessed, so it always had to be used to its fullest. As they came closer to Infinite's army, they noticed that his Gawain had been made into a 10th Generation model, as Nina had expected, although surprisingly the Gawain was the only one, none of the other KnightCrawlers had been upgraded. Suzaku wondered if there was a reason for that or if something else had caused them to be unable to do so.

But he didn't have time to think about that now, all that mattered was that since they didn't have a multitude of 10th Gen.'s that they had the advantage in that aspect. Suzaku, Nunnally, and Cornelia were far ahead of the rest of their army and were now right up to Infinite's army's front line.

The battle began.

The Gawain increased its speed to try and intercept the Lancelot, but it was too late to keep him from going straight past him and attacking the Utsuri. The Lancelot swung one of its Maximum Energy Blades at the closest Utsuri, but he managed to react just in time to bring up its Perfect Barrier to block.

But even the Perfect Barrier was no longer enough to stop these new weapons completely. The blade of pure energy extending from the hilt began to cleave straight through the bubble that could even block a Hydron Cannon, but was deflected enough to where the blade only cut off the machines arm instead of destroying it completely. But he didn't stop there; the Lancelot suddenly turned its whole body around like it used traction on the air to stop its amazing speed and stabbed straight at the Utsuri, which didn't even have time to turn around itself before it was impaled and destroyed.

At the same time, the Guinevere flew toward and Utsuri, who like the other, immediately put up his Perfect Barrier. However, instead of attacking, the Guinevere flew strait past it and then curved up over it. The wings of the Guinevere suddenly bent around its body in a circle and held its arm over its head so the points met. In this position, the Guinevere began spinning at high speed like a drill and span down right on top of the Utsuri, drilling though its Perfect Barrier and destroying it.

The Corneli however seemed to have a harder time. Not just because she flew toward two of the deadly machines, but their reaction time seemed to be faster. The Corneli had always specialized in combating multiple enemies with its many Slash Harken, but now even with the incredible speed and improved weapons; it couldn't take just two down. Because there was Slash Harkens on both its arms and feet, the Corneli's systems were more complex than normal machines; but Cornelia's experience with it allowed her to move the machine fluently and gracefully like it was a ballet dancer.

Using that widened range of motion, the Corneli flung its 4 Electronic Slash Harken one after another almost none stop at the two Utsuri. However with their Harken Vibration Swords, they both continued to block each attack. They couldn't get in an attack of their own, but Cornelia was unable to destroy them.

The Lancelot and Guinevere were having similar problems with their next opponents, who somehow had better reactions and more effective defensive means. Just then, behind each of them, another of the Utsuri flew in and attempted to attack them. Since they were alerted to their presence by their radar systems, each one reacted to the opponent behind them.

The Lancelot flew up and then dove behind the one that attacked him, holding one of its sword backhanded and cutting it in half straight down, then using the explosion it caused as cover, flew through the obstructing cloud and stabbed the second Utsuri, destroying it as well. The Guinevere used its drill attack a second time and ran through one of the Utsuri, but the other got out of the way. The Corneli flew overhead of the three Utsuri she was fighting and then threw three of its Slash Harken at them. But instead of aiming for a kill shot, the axe shaped blades dropped by the Machine's sides, and then they were almost immediately retracted again to sever the KnightCrawlers' heads so they couldn't operate the radar systems and become easy prey.

However, only the one that attacked the Corneli from behind was caught by this, and the other two flew to the side to avoid it. Corneli ignored them and then swung her fourth Harken at the Utsuri that was caught by this tactic and destroyed it.

"Regroup with the rest of the troops." Zero suddenly told Nunnally and Cornelia, who both followed his orders and used their speed to get back to where the rest of their army had gotten.

The two armies were just about to clash for the real battle, and once that happened there was no telling what would happen. Finally, the two armies met each other and Knightmares and KnightCrawlers began clashing left and right. Every soldier there on the battlefield fought with all the power their machines had. And while all that was happening, Kallen stayed at a safe distance from the fighting.

Kallen's Knightmare held the most important weapon that could lead to a crushing victory even over Infinite's incredible army in its left hand. Looking at it right now, no one would see anything unusual, but that was a ploy to keep the enemy from noticing the weapon and understanding its threat.

They had to wait for the perfect moment. They needed to create the perfect opportunity to use this weapon that was on a whole other level from the devices they used on a regular basis. Even the Hydron Cannon was a small feat when compared side by side to the destruction this secret that was tucked away would bring when unleashed.

As she waited, Kallen kept her hand poised on the activation lever. She broke out in a nervous sweat at the thought of actually unleashing that weapon. Even if it was Nina Einstein that created it, and even if it was Suzaku who was giving the order to use it, the final responsibility for its use now rested on Kallen's shoulders. Whatever result came from the use of this weapon, Kallen knew she would be the one to bear the responsibility of its use.

But that was not even her biggest concern. Her biggest concern was the person she was now aware was piloting the Gawain. "Lelouch…" She muttered to herself the name of the person she once fell in love with and still loved in her heart. "One way or another Lelouch; I'll get an answer out of you." She swore this to herself.

She didn't care about anything else anymore. The result of this war, the use of that weapon, the lives that were lost because of this all meant nothing to Kallen as long as she could just ask Lelouch why he had done this.

As long as she could understand his reason behind starting this war and accept it, she would be able to go on as she had before. Because of that resolve, Kallen held her left hand firmly on the activation lever and waited for Suzaku's signal.

On the battlefield, blows were exchanged, blasts were fired, and explosions were triggered constantly at the destruction of a machine. The main force of the Reverse Rebellion also clashed with those of Zero's army. Before Suzaku could do anything more, The Gawain flew out in front of his Lancelot and raised its hand.

The hand of the 10th Gen. model Gawain was coated in energy. With that deadly hand, the Gawain struck the Lancelot's shoulder. At the same time, The Lancelot swung its blade up and cut into the underarm of the Gawain. Neither attack was heavy damage; neither would cause the other to falter. And so, both charged right back in for their true struggle.

Suzaku knew he was attacking Lelouch. And of course Lelouch knew he was attacking Suzaku. Despite those truths, neither one would hold anything back in their fight. They would not need to; nor would they have the luxury to.

The Knightmares and KnightCrawlers fought. And on the inside, the people piloting them struggled. It was a fight for the fate of the world, and neither side would give.

Anya's Mordred met Jeremiah's Deirfgeis. Cornelia's Corneli was attacked by the Nerug. Nunnally's Guinevere among others was faced by Utsuri, and then the rest of the troops faced in their own combat.

In the Knightmare Hanger, Lloyd Asplund, Rakshata Chawla, and Nina Einstein monitored the signals of the troops, keeping an eye on how many troops were lost and how fast. They would tell Zero when the best moment for the secret weapon's deployment was. They calculated when it would be most effective and waited for their opportunity to strike.

The fighting went on, and then they saw it. The exact moment they were looking for when that weapon Nina and Lloyd went to such lengths to ensure would not cause a horrid amount of destruction on the battlefield to be used had finally arrived.

With the goal in sight, Lloyd alerted Zero. "Zero; it is time!" He shouted into his receiver, and his message was radioed to the Lancelot's radio system.

Immediately and without hesitation, Zero then shouted out to his entire army. "The time is now; everyone, scatter!" He told them, and just as they had been instructed beforehand, every single troop flew as far away from Infinite's army as possible in the least amount of time they could manage.

They signal was seen. Kallen saw the Knightmares scattered to give her the line of fire she needed. "Goooooooo!" She screamed out to herself and pushed forward with all her strength on the activation lever of the weapon that was so secret it would have driven someone who knew it was there but not what it was crazy from wondering.

As the lever was pushed, a change immediately occurred in the Guren's left arm. The arm's pieces came loose and moved, it turned upside down to allow the weapon hidden inside of it to flip out into full view for use. The weapon fixed itself into position and its name was finally shown to the world.

In wonder, Lelouch focused his Gawain's video screen onto the arm to understand what was going on. However, upon reading the golden letters on the inside of the Guren's new arm, his eyes opened wide in complete shock. "RUN AWAY! GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THAT WEAPON IMMEDIATELY!" He warned his army of the danger with the upmost importance.

However, many of those troops had automated pilots. They would not understand this warning or the threat well enough to dodge, they would likely attempt to use Perfect Barrier to protect themselves, but it would never work against the weapon.

One of the Utsuri's pilots wondered what on earth could have been so dangerous, and so sought to see it for his own eyes. But when he scanned the arm, he was overcome with overwhelming fear. As one who used to fight for the Britannian Empire, he knew more about the destruction it held then the civilians who piloted the lesser KnightCrawlers would.

Once revealed, Kallen readied her finger of the button that would fire it. As she came to press it, she shouted out the name of the weapon at the top of her lungs. Its name was… "F.L.E.I.J.A. -BEAM-!"

As the name was called out, a pure white beam of absolute destruction rang out that covered a radius of 5 meters despite the cannon it came from being much smaller. Escape was possible, but they had to react fast enough and be far enough away. The F.L.E.I.J.A. would suck anything within a certain radius of its blast and then completely incinerate anything it touched. The auto-piloted KnightCrawlers did not understand this and so became incinerated without resistance. Many of the lower models of KnightCrawlers simply did not react fast enough and sere sucked in to vaporization.

That was why everyone was so apprehensive about the weapon's use. Suzaku especially, who had once unleashed the first use of it because of Lelouch's Geass and vaporized the Tokyo Settlement, killing millions of people. He knew its destruction better than anyone, and so naturally felt the most apprehensive about its use.

The main forces scattered before the beam was turned to get closer to them. It was almost impossible to believe they had made a weapon like that, which focused the destruction of F.L.E.I.J.A. into a beam. The beam soared across the battlefield and wiped out almost half of Infinite's army. With this kind of set back, victory seemed assured for Zero.

The F.L.E.I.J.A. -BEAM- ended and Kallen froze from the surprise of its actual release. However, the weapon could only be used once a battle, if she wanted to use it a second time, she would have to get the arm exchanged for a new F.L.E.I.J.A. shell at the hanger, but they didn't have the time for that, so she rushed into the battlefield to continued fighting.

Inside his cockpit, Lelouch gritted his teeth and clenched his controls. He had gone too far for his plans to be overturned like this. Thinking that way he did the only thing he could. He looked around and found the Lancelot flying above. "ZERO!" He shouted out and Suzaku reacted and turned to see the Gawain flying strait at him at top speed. "We end this now!" Lelouch told Suzaku and struck one of its energy coated claws at the Lancelot, who put up his swords to block, but was then pushed back to a location of Lelouch's choosing.

"Zero!" Kallen noticed when this happened and changed her course to try and help, but she did not have the speed of a 10th Generation Knightmare, she would never catch them.

Just to compact that sense of helplessness, a surviving Utsuri flew out in front of her. "You will not disrupt Infinite's battle." The pilot told her before engaging her in battle.

The battle outside went on, but now Zero's forces were given the advantage. And flying away, the Gawain dragged the Lancelot out of the way so that they could have the final showdown that everything had been leading up to. He would finish this now, he would end everything with this fight.


	23. Kill or Be Killed

_Chapter 23: Kill or Be Killed_

The Gawain that was piloted by Infinite was pushing back the Lancelot piloted by Zero until the two machines rammed through the ceiling of an abandoned skyscraper. Finally, the Lancelot was able to get away from the Gawain and the two pilots stared at the other before clashing once more.

"Just what is it you want?" Suzaku asked. As he asked that question, he was speaking with Lelouch, and hoped that since they were alone here, he would pull off the rouse of being Infinite.

"The end of this; that is my wish." Infinite replied with an oddly solemn tone.

But before Suzaku could respond to Infinite's answer, the Gawain flew forward and struck with its claws to cleave into the Lancelot's armor. To defend, Suzaku brought up one of the Lancelot's EVS and deflected the Gawain's claw and then swung its second blade for an attack.

But then the Gawain brought up its second claw and grabbed the blade of energy. This was the first time two 10th Generation models did battle against one another. Against each other, their speeds were perfectly matched, and both machines only had one source of attack. It would not be speed or power that would decide the victor of this battle; it would all be up to skill. How well the two of them could control their deadly weapons was all that mattered.

The answer would be seen with the victor of this battle. But the battle itself was no longer a simple situation. Suzaku knew it was Lelouch piloting the Gawain, and Lelouch of course knew he was attacking Suzaku. Even worse, Lelouch had the Geass 'Code', which made him immortal; even if he tried, Suzaku would not be able to kill him.

The Lancelot and the Gawain broke from each other and skidded back using the wheels on their heels. There was only a second of stillness before the Lancelot charged in again, swinging its blades to attempt to cease the Gawain's movement rather than destroy it. Suzaku wanted to force Lelouch out to speak face to face, if he could make it impossible for the Gawain to fight, he would easily achieve that goal.

As he charged the Gawain, the black machine began to move forward as well, throwing its claws to deflect the Lancelot's blade as they zoomed past each other and quickly spun around to face each other and continue to battle with an even greater furiousness than before.

In the air where the main forces battled, Kallen desperately tried to get past the Utsuri in front of her to go help Zero who had been forced away by Infinite. More importantly, she wanted to go to meet with Lelouch and punch him for putting them through this.

The Guren flew up at the Utsuri and stretched its pulsar arm at it. Knowing full well the dangers of that arm, the Utsuri pulled away and flew to the side to avoid it and then took out its M.V. Harken Blade and shot it out at the Guren, but Kallen performed a strategic roll to the side and avoided the blade's edge.

"Get out of my way!" Kallen shouted at the Utsuri's pilot and flew at it again.

The Utsuri retracted its blade and prepared to swing it straight at the Guren when it approached. However, mid-approach, the Guren activated its cloaking systems and appeared to vanish from in front of him, taking him slightly off guard.

In haste, the Utsuri simply stabbed its sword forward, and then was surprised to find that it did not hit anything. However, the pilot did not remain confused for very long. Activating the cloaking systems like that had surprised him, but the KnightCrawlers were already equipped with sensors strong enough to detect the Knightmares even in that state.

"You're not getting away!" The man inside warned Kallen and turned his machine around and fired off its Hydron Bullets from its wrist guns.

At first they looked like random shots and none of them hit anything, but suddenly all the shots twisted in mid-air and converged on a single point. When the shots collided they exploded, however they did not hit the Guren. To save herself, Kallen had pulled herself to an emergency stop before she got to the point the bullets had converged on. The blast blew her Guren back a bit and her cloaking device was damaged, making her visible again.

Of course, the cloaking was not the only system that had been impacted from the explosion. Even the normal flight motion of the Guren had been impeded, although it might have just been temporary disturbance like jetlag. However the effect was not so major it would cause Kallen's immediate loss. She turned back around to face the Utsuri and found it flying at her with its sword at the ready.

Immediately, Kallen moved her pulsar arm and – just before the sword cut into the machine – caught the Utsuri's hand. Without hesitation, she activated the pulsar arm. The Utsuri's arm expanded rapidly, and then the pilot hurriedly detached the arm and flew away just before it exploded.

However, the Guren's attack was not over, using the lasers embedded in its pulsar arm to surprise the Utsuri and pierce through its main body and then swung the arm down to cut down through the Utsuri, causing the whole thing to blow up and completely destroy it.

Kallen sighed with relief and then made to go in the direction the Lancelot and Gawain had flown. However, just as she turned the Guren around, a new enemy appeared in front of her – The Nerug.

But the half backed copy of her Knightmare was no longer on the same level. That was the first time Kallen had used the lasers in the Pulsar arm, so Kallen's opponent was now at a disadvantage.

The Nerug shoved its pulsar arm at the Guren, and Kallen made a sloppy retreat backward from the system malfunction caused by the explosion a moment ago, but still got in the clear before her machine was touched.

Even if Kallen had an advantage, that did not quell the rage she contained from being stopped twice in a row in her advance. "Out. Of. My. Way!" She screamed each word at the Nerug's pilot and swung her Pulsar arm to the side without approaching the enemy KnightCrawler and fired off its lasers to attempt to cleave the copy in half.

However, the Nerug flew up and over the lasers and then lurched itself at Kallen again, stretching its pulsar arm at her yet again.

The Lancelot's blade stabbed forward. The Gawain's claw grabbed and halted it, holding it to the side. The second sword swooped down but it was caught again. Suzaku continued to press its blades against the Gawain as if he were trying to break its arms through sheer force. But that was not his plan; instead he held the Gawain in place like that and moved one of the Lancelot's legs up to kick the Gawain's chest, knocking it back.

The Gawain took the attack and was knocked back a little before stopping itself and then racing back at the Lancelot, throwing its right claw at the Lancelot's head. But this was actually a chance that Suzaku had been waiting for.

Using the Gawain's own charge against it, the Lancelot ducked down to the side and allowed the enemy to pass by past its shoulder while it drew its energy blade back to strike. It did not aim for the cockpit or the arm, but rather for the Energy Wing on its back. If Suzaku managed to hider Lelouch's speed in a battle that was based solely on that exact aspect, he might as well have the battle won already.

The Gawain did not have time to dodge as the Lancelot's blade approached its left wing, ready to clip its feathers to prevent flight like a bird. Instead, it moved its already extended arm and twisted it back as far as it could go. When the Lancelot's blade cut through the Gawain's wing, the Gawain's momentum was shifted into a half roll to the side. Using that momentum, the Gawain swung its arm and used its claw to rip into the Lancelot's own Energy Wing, ripping the mechanism of speed off its enemy's back and managing to keep them.

Strategically, Suzaku knew Lelouch had him beat; however, this battle now was obviously not previously planned and had been forced because Lelouch had not expected the F.L.E.I.J.A -BEAM-. But in terms of sheer fighting ability, Suzaku could defeat Lelouch.

The two of them operated their machines with these aspects that they excelled in. So while Suzaku attacked Lelouch, Lelouch planned out the best counter to it as it happened. Because of that, they remained on equal footing in combat against one another.

Suzaku had meant to trigger the end of the battle there, but because Lelouch had managed to keep them on the same level, their battle would rage on longer. But Suzaku would try to make sure it did not extend too much longer. He knew he wouldn't get Lelouch with the same trick twice, so his best choice now was to make a continuous full-throttle attack that backed him into a corner he couldn't get out of and strike then.

Whether or not Lelouch would expect it to come, so long as Suzaku could land the first attack, it would be over. With that in mind, Suzaku controlled the slowed Lancelot and charged once more at the Gawain.

The Lancelot plunged forward and the Gawain stood its ground, waiting for the attack. The Lancelot stopped in front of the Gawain and swung its sword down. When it did, the Gawain blocked with its claw, but Lelouch knew it was not ending there.

The Lancelot pulled its sword back up and twisted its body, spinning its second blade up at the Gawain. Reacting quickly, the Gawain but its claws in the way and deflected the blade and then moved back to try and gain room to start a counter-attack. However, this was just what Suzaku wanted.

Without giving his enemy a second, the Lancelot moved forward to close the gap before it even became on and swung both swords from the side at the Gawain's head. The Gawain just barely reacted in time and put both its hands in the way and blocked the swords, shoving them to the sides and moving back more just before the Lancelot swung the blades back again from both sides.

And yet the assault still didn't end. Moving forward only an instant after the Gawain, the Lancelot threw the swords that were now above its head down directly on top of the Gawain. Once again, the Gawain just barely put its claws in the way, to block.

However, this time the Lancelot did something different. One of its swords had not been directed at its head, but to the side. Because of that, it was now at the side of a cornered Gawain with both its arms pinned above its head. The Lancelot swung the sword in and up, cutting through the Gawain's right arm at the shoulder and severing it completely from the machine.

In that moment the Gawain's arm fell to the ground, the Lancelot pulled its second sword back from above the Gawain and held it back, following by striking forward at the should of the Gawain's remaining arm.

The Gawain ducked; and not a moment too soon. The blade of the Lancelot stabbed into the wall behind the Gawain and then the Gawain struck its claw forward and ran through the shoulder joint of the Lancelot's right arm, once again just managing to keep the two machines on equal footing in the fight.

Suzaku became enraged. Knowing he was fighting Lelouch was hard enough, but he was continually wondering what the purpose behind his actions were. He couldn't imagine Lelouch not having a rational goal for causing this much chaos. To learn what that reason was, Suzaku fought as hard as he could.

The Lancelot swung its remaining arm to swing its sword at the Gawain's remaining arm. If he could sever that arm as well, Lelouch would no longer be able to fight. At that point, he would get his answers.

But he knew it would not be that easy to accomplish. The Gawain used its single Energy Wing to unsteadily jump into the air and land behind the Lancelot. Flight was nearly impossible with only one wing as the balance would be completely off, but momentary lift was easily doable.

The Gawain took to the offensive, it charged at the Lancelot as it turned around and thrust its claw at its head. The Lancelot ducked and rolled to the side and then swung its sword at the Gawain in turn. The Gawain shifted the direction of its arm and knocked the blade to the side to keep out of harm's way and then swung it down.

Instead of running or blocking, the Lancelot burst forward suddenly and crashed itself into the Gawain to avoid the attack and knock them both back into a wall. From that position, Suzaku had the machine roll back while swinging its sword at the same time. This time, it cleaved off the remaining arm of the Gawain.

Stopping in front of his enemy, the Suzaku pointed the Lancelot's sword at the now defenseless Gawain. The Gawain did not move, standing there in defeat. With the situation now in his favor, Suzaku gave the pilot an order. "Come out of there."

Complying, the hatch of the Gawain opened up, and then a man clad in white stood up. Infinite still wore his helmet before Suzaku, which only aggravated him since he knew it was Lelouch.

Suzaku put on his helmet as well and then opened up his cockpit as well. He clicked a few buttons and then a compartment at his feet opened up to show a sword that he could use. Taking the sword, he and Infinite both used their safety wires to lower themselves to the ground.

"Take off that helmet. You should realize I know who you are." Suzaku told Lelouch, who stood there before him.

"You as well." Infinite stated, and then slowly reached a hand up to his mask.

Suzaku did the same in kind, putting a hand upon the mask of Zero. At the same time, both of them removed their masks from their heads and then held it in front of their faces. After another moment, the two discarded the masks by throwing them to the ground, no longer any use.

Finally, everything was laid bare. Suzaku stared forward, peering into the eyes of his best friend, Lelouch. For a moment there was nothing but silence and the noticeable grip Suzaku had on his sword tightening to the point it shook.

"It's been a long time, Suzaku." Lelouch said slowly, as if forcing himself to.

Lelouch's expression was solid and showed no emotion, just raw focus on the situation before him. In response, Suzaku yelled. "Tell me why!?" He asked, clenching his teeth and baring a look of utter resentment that hid the sorrow he felt inside. "What was the reason you started this war!?"

Lelouch's expression did not waver in the slightest as he answered. "Because I needed you."

Suzaku did not know how to respond to that. For a moment his expression went straight from resentment to startled. "Needed me… for what?" He asked.

He felt he was getting down to the truth, the real reason behind all of Lelouch's actions. Answering him, Lelouch spoke in a solemn voice. "Kill me." He said. Suzaku went from startled to absolute shock. "I need you to kill me." He repeated.

"Lelouch, what are you…" He started, but lost the words in his confusion.

Lelouch was immortal. He could not die. Why then, would Lelouch tell him that he needed to be killed? It was a contradiction, and one Suzaku felt he might not get an answer to.

"I told you already, I wish to end all of this." Lelouch said. "To do that, I must die. So kill me."

"Stop saying that! That's not what I want to hear!" Suzaku screamed out, taking a step forward. "Why did you start this war? What is the final goal you meant to accomplish?"

Instead of giving an answer, Lelouch just repeated himself. "Kill me, Suzaku."

"Answer me!"

"Kill me," Lelouch said once more, and then reached behind his back inside his cape. He grabbed a gun from a holster on his waist, and when he did the holster began blinking with small lights. Lelouch pulled out the gun and pointed it straight at Suzaku. "Kill me, or I will kill you."

Suzaku's eyes widened so much he felt as if his eyes would pop out of their sockets. He could feel it; Lelouch was serious. The reason was that he felt the unprecedented instinct to defend himself from the impending threat, the instinct he felt when Lelouch's order to 'Live on' came into effect. It only happened when his life was in genuine danger that he might be killed if it didn't activate.

But Suzaku couldn't believe it was a serious threat. He couldn't believe Lelouch would actually plan to kill him. "Why… Lelouch?" Suzaku muttered while using every inch of his will to fight the overpowering instinct to defend his life. Lelouch did not answer. Instead, all he did was pull the trigger of that pistol in his hand.

All will left Suzaku's body, the Geass command now had complete control of his limbs and made him tighten the grip on his sword even more than it already was. In the exact instant the trigger was pulled, Suzaku's body ducked to the side to where the bullet only just grazed his head, a few drops of blood dripping down.

After that, Suzaku's feet were forced to run forward at Lelouch. Sadness, anger, hatred, worry, confusion, shock, relief, depression, anguish, rage, and even more emotions tore through Suzaku's heart like a hurricane so much so that it was as if he could die from the strain it put on his heart. And with that dangerous and indescribable mix of emotions stabbed at his heart and mind, Suzaku unwillingly ran his sword through Lelouch's chest.


	24. Knightmare

_Chapter 24: Knightmare_

C.C. piloted the Nerug and fought Kallen in the Guren in order to keep her from heading to where Lelouch was fighting Suzaku. However, just then, a small red light began flashing with a small beeping noise. It was a signal; one that was received by only her and Jeremiah, who likewise noticed the small light from within his KnightCrawler.

The signal was set to be given to them when Lelouch drew his gun, telling them it was about to end. Jeremiah was in the midst of random fighting, but when he received the signal he slipped back behind the other troops and activated his cloaking system and vanished into the background, beginning to fly to where Lelouch was.

As for C.C., when she saw the signal pulled away from the Guren and looked at it for a moment as if deciding what to do now. After a few seconds, she suddenly smiled and turned her Nerug around and began flying away, activating her cloaking systems as well and vanishing from Kallen's sight.

"What the-" Kallen stuttered when this happened and looked around, thinking the Nerug was going to attempt a sneak attack while hidden.

When nothing happen, Kallen became confused; however, she soon shook her head and left the matter for later. She flew her Guren in the direction Lelouch had taken Suzaku as fast as she could, although her speed appeared to be diminished from the earlier backlash due to the Utsuri's efforts. She just had to hope she wouldn't be too late.

As that happened, Suzaku stood frozen with his sword running Lelouch through. After a moment, the command to 'Live on' that commanded his body lost its grip on him, and he immediately ripped the sword out of Lelouch and stepped back, dropping the sword in shock and guilt. "Lelouch…" He muttered, unable to understand the man who had caused this to happen.

When the sword was taken from his chest, Lelouch slouched forward and held the wound with both hands, having dropped his gun. He looked up at Suzaku with a sweat covered, regret-filled face. When he did, his bangs separated from his forehead and revealed something red tattooed over his skin. It was a red mark that looked like some kind of simple representation of a bird.

It was the Geass "Code". Suzaku realized that symbol was the thing that was keeping Lelouch immortal. But if Lelouch was immortal, there was no way that wound would kill him… right?

"I…" Lelouch choked out as his blood quickly dyed his white outfit red. "It…" It seemed like he was trying to give some kind of final sentiment, but Suzaku could do nothing but watch in horror. "Was it… enough?" He voiced a question.

The question was not aimed at any one person. He simply had to ask that question, hoping the answer would come to him. Suzaku was finally about to say something as he reached his hand forward to his friend, but before he could say a single word, Lelouch's body fell forward, hitting the floor hard.

"Lelouch!" Suzaku was suddenly shocked back into action. He ran forward and picked Lelouch up, turning him over and cradling him in his arms. "Lelouch! Lelouch!" He screamed out to his friend and shook him, attempting to wake him.

But all attempts failed to stir his state. Suzaku continued to call out to him with tears in his eyes until… "Lelou-" Suzaku cut himself off when he suddenly saw the red mark on Lelouch's forehead suddenly fade away.

Suzaku gasped at what he saw. Without the Code, Lelouch would have returned to being mortal, and he would be capable of dying. But what had caused it? Suzaku could not come to an answer to that question.

Had he somehow destroyed the Code with his sword? That didn't even sound plausible.

Did Lelouch do something to himself that made him vulnerable? That idea seemed much more reasonable.

Or had it been Lelouch's actions? Lelouch had purposely triggered his order to 'Live on' by shooting a bullet at Suzaku's head. Was the reason the Code having vanished because Suzaku attacked him while under the influence of a Geass? Was it possible?

Suddenly, a gush of air interrupted Suzaku's thoughts. He looked up and saw the KnightCrawlers the Nerug and Deirfgeis. The two machines landed in front of him, and Suzaku couldn't get his body to move. The Deirfgeis was piloted by Jeremiah, whose loyalty was to Lelouch and Lelouch only. And he was in on the plan to kill Lelouch a year ago in the first place; he would not have helped Infinite unless he knew it had been Lelouch.

However, he knew not who the pilot of the Nerug or what their intentions were. The KnightCrawlers then answered his question by their cockpits opening up. Out of the Deirfgeis, Jeremiah Gottwald was seen, and in the Nerug, Suzaku looked and saw C.C.

"C.C.!" Suzaku questioned, although it made perfect sense.

She had disappeared after their plan a year ago had been carried through and naturally had been the one to give him the Code to make him immortal. She had probably been with Lelouch this whole time, from beginning to end.

"So, I guess it worked after all." C.C. said surprisingly as she and Jeremiah lowered themselves from their mechanic weapons with solemn expressions.

Suzaku watched as the two of them began to walk closer to him. "What worked?" He asked frantically. "What did I do?"

"This was the goal line of this entire plan." C.C. told Suzaku without hesitation, stopping in front of him and looking down on Lelouch. "To completely erase all trace of Geass from this world, Lelouch had to die."

Suzaku was speechless. He simply gaped at C.C. with his mouth wide open, as if trying to say something, but had lost the ability to speak. "When I learned what Lord Lelouch's plan was, I did not accept it easily." Jeremiah chimed in, shutting his eyes in remorse. "But I followed him to this end nonetheless."

"Lelouch understood ever sense he obtained the Code – no – even before that he knew the true depth of despair that had been created by Geass. He wanted to end that cycle, and so devised this war." C.C. explained.

Evidentially they had no reason to hide the reason from Suzaku anymore, or it might have even been that Lelouch wanted it this way after he was killed. "So that… was it?" He asked, and looked down on Lelouch's face, and he realized that the expression on Lelouch's dying face was not one of anguish, but neither was it redemption. It seemed oddly peaceful, as if he was just sleeping, with no control over his facial muscles and they had just relaxed themselves.

Knowing Lelouch's reason for causing all this havoc in one way relieved Suzaku, although the level he had caused still seemed out of control. "Yes, he wanted you to know once he was dead. He knew you would understand." C.C. told Suzaku.

Of course, with Lelouch gone, that left an important question. "So what do we do about the Reverse Rebellion now?" He asked. There were still a few hundred KnightCrawlers fighting them outside, and they were under the impression it was to restore the rule of the Britannian Empire.

"We'll need to finish them all off." Jeremiah answered.

"There was also a reason behind the method Lelouch used." C.C. began. "Truthfully, there might have been a less drastic way to obtain this objective. But Lelouch chose to do it through means of the 'Reverse Rebellion' in order to weed out anyone who wanted the Britannian rule."

It made sense. The pilots of the Utsuri's had even said that they had originally had an assassination plot to get rid of Cornelia before Infinite had shown up. The number had been comparatively small, but people had answered Infinite's call. Had they been given time to sprout, those small seeds of danger could have evolved into something even worse.

"So, we must defeat the Reverse Rebellion." Jeremiah restated.

But suddenly, a voice rang out. "I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that; Jeremiah Gottwald."

The voice had completely caught all of them off guard. They frantically looked around to find the source of the voice, but saw nothing. "Who's there? Show yourself!" Jeremiah shouted.

When he had, a shape suddenly began to reveal itself in the air. When it had taking off its cloaking, it revealed itself to be the Tolecnal. Seeing that KnightCrawler, C.C. was the first to voice her surprise. "Bai; what on earth are you doing-"

"I am merely performing out the Reverse Rebellion's will. Its _real _will." The pilot of the Tolecnal replied, and then landed his machine in front of Jeremiah's and C.C.'s cutting them off from any form of counterattack, not that they would have had time to get to them anyways. "I have been aware of your schemes to betray the Rebellion for almost as long as I've worked for you." Bai told C.C., giving her a disdain filled growl along with his words.

"But how-"

"I am now the Commander of the Reverse Rebellion. In fact I have been for a while now; I had informed most of your recruits the truth, and then had them conceal that they knew from you. Leading them, I will bring about a new age of conquest and rule the world with an iron fist using my Geass!" Bai raged, stretching his machine's arms to the side as if basking in the glory of the moment.

But suddenly, yet another unexpected visitor appeared in the sky. Flying in straight over the Tolecnal, the Guren appeared. "Go to Hell!" Kallen screeched at its pilot and thrust her pulsar arm down on its head, quickly grasping it between the claws and using the radiation wave attack on it.

By doing so, the Tolecnal's armor expanded swiftly, followed by a near immediate explosion of the machine. The Guren landed and looked over the scene until she saw Lelouch, but upon noticing his state, gasped in terror.

"Lelouch!" She screamed out and immediately opened her cockpit.

Fumbling out as quickly as she could, she descended using the safety wire and jumped off when it was low enough for her to tuck and roll safely, and then began to run toward Lelouch. However, before she got close, yet another completely unexpected phenomenon, which seemed to have taken place as the norm in their current situation occurred.

If Kallen had moved any slower, she would have died, because just then, the Guren exploded. The blast had been so near her that though she was just outside the actual blast, the force of the explosion literally kicked her off her feet and threw her forward, causing her to fly over Suzaku's head and hit the ground hard.

"Kallen!" Suzaku called back to her, but she had been knocked out cold, and it wouldn't have been surprising if the blast had given her whiplash. The others all looked forward at the sea of flames that had spread out before them and tried to identify what had caused the Guren to explode.

From inside the flames of the explosion, they saw something standing at the center that was black. C.C. squinted to try and get a better look, but when she saw the full picture of what it was, she couldn't believe her eyes. As she realized what it was, the thing standing there waved its hand that kicked up a sudden gust that blew aside the flames to reveal itself completely to those in front of it.

The black, humanoid figure laughed, and Jeremiah and C.C. recognized the laugh as being the voice of Bai. "Impossible…" C.C. gasped, gaping at the suit that covered his body head-to-toe.

"What is that?" Jeremiah questioned, staring with profound curiosity at Bai's wear.

"C.C., do you know what's going on?" Suzaku asked in a hurry, thinking her reaction meant she understood what was going on.

"Is that… a Knightmare?" C.C. asked aloud, in pure disbelief of the black figure in front of her that should have only existed in her memories.


	25. The End of the Beginning

_Chapter 25: The End of the Beginning_

"Is that… a Knightmare?" C.C.'s question might have rocked the foundation of the world, if only the true meaning of those words had been known at that time.

"Knightmare? That thing?" Jeremiah questioned the idea. To his knowledge, Knightmares were and always had been huge destructive machines, but the outfit covering Bai's body was just big enough to fit his body in, more like a suit than a machine. It couldn't possibly be as efficient or as powerful as their weapons, even if he had just seen it withstand an explosion and destroy the Guren.

"No Jeremiah, you are mistaken." Bai answered, confusing Jeremiah and Suzaku. This is not the kind of Knightmare you are familiar with. In this age, C.C. was the only person who had knowledge that this kind of Knightmare ever existed."

C.C. began to ask a question. "But… how did you-"

"I found it. The information about these Knightmares is all kept within your memories." Bai said.

Being told something like that, C.C. could think of only one way for what he said to make any sense. "Your Geass?"

"Correct." Bai answered. "As you deduced some time ago, I held back the true power of my Geass from you for my own plans. My Geass's true power is the ability to step into the minds of others, and then have the power to physically recreate anything within that person's memories or imaginations perfectly; or at least as close as humanly possible.

"Using that power I stepped into your mind, and admittedly I became practically entranced with the vast amount of knowledge you kept within your mind. Naturally, I learned then of Infinite's true identity and your true plan for the Reverse Rebellion; but most importantly I found the detailed information about these wonderful machines: Knightmares." Bai spoke this last bit with a tone of ecstasy as he motioned to the black metal suit on his body. "Of course you should realize that this is not a perfect recreation of the previous Knightmares C.C. That is one thing that truly does exist outside of human potential; but you may now look upon the closest thing mankind could ever hope to achieve!"

C.C. narrowed her eyes in anger. "Bai… you bastard."

"Call me whatever you'd like." Bai responded to C.C.'s insult immediately. "Nothing you say can possibly change your fates."

However, as if to deny that, an idea came to Jeremiah's head. "Wrong! If this Knightmare was created with your Geass, then I…" He shouted and quickly the cover over his left eye, the 'Geass Canceller', moved out of the way so he could use his power.

His left eye was given the power to remove the effects of any Geass, so as long as Bai was incapable of creating the machine he took such pride in without his Geass, it could be torn to scrap by his Geass Canceller. But just when he attempted to use it, Bai stretched out his left hand and then Jeremiah felt his heart stop as if he had been shot in the chest by a bullet.

But the reality of the event was a dart the length of a fingertip that had jammed its way into Jeremiah's shoulder. The dart must have been coated in a heavy duty poison or tranquilizer, because Jeremiah lost consciousness in less than a second and fell to the floor, now unable to do anything.

Suzaku and C.C. both were left speechless when they realized what had happened, and sweat was now dripping down Suzaku's face as he stared at Jeremiah's body as he lay face down on the ground. His focus was only brought away from that sight by Bai's voice addressing him directly. "Now then, 'Zero', if you would be so kind as to hand Lelouch over." He said, holding out a hand to receive his demand.

"What?" Suzaku was dumbstruck by that demand. "What would you possibly want with Lelouch's body?"

"To show the world the true culprit behind their suffering of course." Bai answered while keeping his arm outstretched as if he believed he might receive it at any moment. "Just imagine the reaction of everyone when they find out who Infinite really is; and who you are."

So that was Bai's plan. He wanted to expose Suzaku and Lelouch for who they really were to make the entire world see just how badly they had been played. There would be a number of people who would not react kindly to that, even if it had been for good reasons.

"You're insane if you think I'll just hand him over!" Suzaku shouted.

However in response to this, Bai just laughed. "Oh, I knew you'd say that, so I brought along another little invention of mine." Bai proclaimed with pride as he reached his right index finger up to the side of his helmet.

When he tapped his head, a small electronic click was heard and a camera lens appeared on the center of Bai's helmet, and a pair of antennae near the back. "This camera and the transmitters are specifically made broadcasting tools that will instantly jam any and all radio frequencies and television channels, replacing them with what will be seen and heard as recorded by me." Bai explained, and held up his hand, in which was now a hand-held button. "And once I press this button, a live feed will be sent from this camera to every single radio and television within a grand radius of 50 kilometers of me."

Suzaku's eyes would have bulged out if they weren't already spread as wide as they could go. A radius that large could cover half of Beijing, and would undoubtedly reach every Knightmare and KnightCrawler currently on the battlefield. But before Suzaku could come up with any kind of way to avoid Bai's plan, he pressed the button in his hand.

It was instantaneous, the second Bai pressed the button, the radio screens of every machine in a battle against one another received the same transmission showing them an image of something they could not believe. "Attention, Reverse Rebellion and Zero's Army. Please put down your arms." Bai's voice came in through the sound.

And it wasn't just the Knightmares and KnightCrawlers either, every television and radio within Bai's specified radius was suddenly hacked so that the normal people whose live were also impacted by Lelouch and Suzaku's ruse could know what happened. But in regards to the Knightmares and KnightCrawlers, it took a moment, but everyone eventually felt a need to stop what they were doing when they realized just what the feed they were getting was showing them.

"The image you see before you is not faked or pre-recorded. This is a real, live feed that I, Bai Fuyan, am graciously sharing with all of you. I am sharing this feed so that all of you, on both sides of this war, as well as those who are uninvolved in the military, can understand just what kind of fools you have been taken for." Even as Bai spoke and continued to record, Suzaku was unable to do anything in an attempt to stop him. His fear had paralyzed him beyond anything but shaking, and C.C. did not move because she knew just what that 'Knightmare' was truly capable of. "As most of you have no doubt realized by now, this image you see before you is showing you that the faces behind the masks of Zero and Infinite are in fact two people we have long thought to be dead: Suzaku Kururugi and Lelouch vi Britannia."

The people who were watching were shocked beyond belief, and there were some that were in fact even more so. Cornelia's hands were shaking with unimaginable pain being brought back to her. She could not understand how those two people had escaped death in the first place, but now the idea that Suzaku had been helping lead their world for the last year behind a mask and that the 'demon' Lelouch had caused even more havoc on their peaceful land was almost too much to bear. "This… can't be happening." She growled to herself, trying to block this image in front of her from her mind.

Nunnally on the other hand, saw the image and was taken over by a different type of grief. In the image, she saw Lelouch bleeding out, his life gone. But he was supposed to be immortal, so perhaps this was like a momentary coma that took him before the healing began and revived him. But no matter what that scene in front of her meant, she knew what she had to do. Using her Knightmare's superior speed, she turned from the motionless battlefield and soared to where Lelouch had taken Suzaku. She needed to save them; and it was possible that she was the only one who would save them after seeing and hearing this.

As that happened, Bai continued to speak. "One year ago, Suzaku came disguised as Zero and supposedly murdered the hated dictator Lelouch. But all of this had been a trick played on the entire world. Some of you listening to this broadcast are familiar with the power known as Geass, and the power that gives it to others, the Code that the woman C.C. once bared. Before that faithful day a year ago, Lelouch was given the Code, and with it became immortal. Through this, he survived and came back a year later under the guise of recreating his own empire.

"Because of these men, the world has been caused much suffering and grief; too much pain and loss. And now these men stand convicted of crimes against humanity for pulling this grand scheme, this worldwide curtain down over our eye and blinded us to truth. I implore every single one of you fighters, cease fighting each other and focus on our true enemies, Suzaku Kururugi and Lelouch vi Britannia." Bai now got to his desire. "Join together under me, and I will lead this world into a new era of truth and prosperity!"

To some, it may have sounded insane, especially if they knew that he was only a young boy. And yet, when Bai requested this from the two sides of the current war, mean who piloted KnightCrawlers began shouting his praises. "All hail Bai! All hail Bai!"

The men who first began saying this were people that Bai had already secretly informed before now. When Lelouch had spoken with Bai about acting outside of his duties, this is what he had really been doing. Before today, Bai had already had half the Reverse Rebellion under his command by sharing this information with them; but those that had not known until this moment were confused and bewildered.

"Soldiers of the Reverse Rebellion, understand me when I tell you that Lelouch, your 'Lord Infinite' never had any intention of leading you to victory in this war. He played all of us yet again, swirling the world back into the chaos we thought had been avoided so long ago. He is _not_ your ally; I am. Join me, and your dreams may yet be realized.

"But those of Zero's army do not misunderstand my words. Even if Lelouch is not our ally, he is still your enemy. He played all of you just the same as he played all of us, your beloved 'Zero' as well. They are traitors to the world, which gives us a common enemy. Join with me and the Reverse Rebellion, and you can still have your peace!"

Even if they did not want to, one had to admit that Bai was making a very convincing argument against Suzaku and Lelouch. But even so he was still only giving them his perspective of how things were. He was omitting the purpose of everything the two of them had done it all for. They did it so that the world could be in peace, they did it for the good of everyone.

But Bai would not let them know that, he would only tell them what he wanted them to hear. He would only share with them the information that would bend their ideals into what would be most profitable for him. It was obvious from his words: Bai's goal was complete rule; the entire world as his throne. That was what the Reverse Rebellion had been fighting to create for Infinite, and now, that was what Bai wanted them to fight to create for him.

It would not be surprising if, after all of this, even people who had been fighting the Reverse Rebellion up to now would have a change of heart from the words of Bai Fuyan and follow him, believing it to be the better choice.

Already people from the Reverse Rebellion that had not been part of the initial cheering had begun to join in, declaring: "All hail Bai! All hail Bai!"

Finally, Bai began to tell the people what he would do now. "And now, I will prove my loyalty to the world by riding it of the elements that should have died long ago yet have continued to plague the world until today. I here today, will execute Suzaku Kururugi and Lelouch vi Britannia."

When Bai said this, he tapped his thumb and middle finger together on his right hand, and in it suddenly materialized a blade of solid energy, like Suzaku's new swords, only without any physical object propelling its shape other than the mechanisms in Bai's Knightmare. Bai began walking toward Suzaku, who realized how futile it would be to try and fight something as monstrous as the Knightmare he was clad in with his bare hands. Even if he were to somehow make it back to his Lancelot, he somehow doubted it would be of much help.

But then, when Bai was only half way to Suzaku, a Knightmare suddenly crashed through the wall from the side, hurtling toward him. "What the-" Bai had not seen this coming, he had expected everyone to be so shocked they would be unable to even think of moving, much less coming charging at him in defiance of his cause.

He looked at the Knightmare, which in consequence revealed it to everyone watching. It was the Guinevere. "Nunnally!?" When Cornelia saw this, she gasped and suddenly realized that she had been paying so much attention to Bai's speech that she had not even noticed her sister leave the battlefield; no one had.

Bai had absolutely no time to react. The Guinevere's massive hand smashed into him and threw him through the next wall. Nunnally's Knightmare, destroyed half the floor of the building by crashing into it, but Bai's Knightmare was not destroyed. He and his machine had survived the attack and he stopped himself in mid air with miniature versions of the Energy Wings that in fact looked more like wings than the current ones did.

In accordance to what they had seen so far, it would not be surprising if it was much faster as well. The Knightmare's camera was also still in effect, so the people were still watching what was happening.

The Guinevere's hand stretched down to Suzaku and C.C. "Come on, we have to get out of here!" She told them.

The two of them did not miss a step, immediately, C.C. ran back to pick up the unconscious Kallen and Suzaku carried over both Lelouch's body and the unconscious Jeremiah to the Guinevere's hand. The second they were all on, the Guinevere began flying away, away, and away.

And yet strangely, Bai did not follow them. Instead, he spoke once more to his audience. "Do you all see? Now Suzaku and his followers are fleeing like cowards. They are not fit to lead the people of the world. Join me, and I will be your savior."

Even as Bai spoke, the people of the Reverse Rebellion were still chanting: "All hail Bai! All hail Bai!" And many people on Zero's side were simply left speechless.

And it struck Cornelia most of all. She had heard everything and understood its meaning. And because of that she could not come to understand what Nunnally was thinking when she went and rescued Suzaku from danger and ran. And now, the only thing that echoed in her head was the chanting of Bai's followers as the video feed came to an end.

Bai continued to look after the Guinevere until it was out of sight and muttered to himself. "You believed this battle would mark the end of your endeavor, Lelouch vi Britannia; but you were very, very wrong. The only thing the end of this battle marks, is the end of the beginning…"

Bai now stared off into the horizon for a moment and then turned around to go to the battlefield, and get everyone's response to his request. It was as he said; this battle only brought an end to the beginning. The real fight had only just begun, and he planned to see it through personally, and unlike Suzaku and Lelouch, he planned to do it without a mask.

**To Be Continued in… "Code Geass: Bai of the Conquest"**

* * *

**Author's Note: And so I have brought a close to this story.  
**

**But I must say, at first I had absolutely no intention of having a sequel following this Fanfiction; in the beginning Bai was only meant to be a means of explaining how Lelouch managed to build so many KnightCrawlers in such a short amount of time. But as I continued to write, his character developed on its own until it came to this. I know some of you have had a number ofconcerns about how I managed the characters and wrote the story, particularly in regards to Lelouch's goals and reasoning behind what he did and how he did it; so I want to thank you all for sticking through my story anyways and hope these last couple of chapters have helped clarify things a bit.  
**

**The Sequel will not come for some time, but I hope all of my readers here will keep an eye out and look forward to the story that I am sure will be much more well written and very epic with the revelation of the 'Knightmare' Bai controls.  
**

**Again I wish to thank all of my readers for keeping with me and hope you will all follow me into my sequel: please be on the lookout for "Code Geass: Bai of the Conquest"!  
**

**Until then, happy reading!  
**


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